


Out of Place

by SittingInACoffeeShop



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: AU, Angst, Cigarettes, Drug Use, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Flashbacks, Foster Care, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Jealous Jeremie, Major Character Injury, Mental Health Issues, Odd/Aelita - Freeform, Past Child Abuse, Permanent Injury, Scars, Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt, Ulrich/Yumi - Freeform, Underage Smoking, alcohol use, in later chapter(s), then he chills out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2018-10-02 01:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 41,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10206026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SittingInACoffeeShop/pseuds/SittingInACoffeeShop
Summary: Odd Della Robbia comes into the picture with a dark past, a parole officer, and a goal that involves him changing his ways. But with the help of Ulrich Stern, Yumi Ishiyama, Jeremie Belpois, and Aelita Hopper this change might just be possible. AU





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am finally, FINALLY on this site. I have only ever uploaded stories to fanfiction.net (which I am still using btw but it seems like popularity has died down and come to this lovely site). So I will keep updating on ff.net AND on here. Let's see how this goes...so far though, I really think I'll like it here ( :

 

Kadic Academy was a school that held many students. It sat right in the middle of the Sceaux suburbian area of Paris, France. A flyer for the school was clasped in a blonde boy's left hand; he appeared to be between fifteen and sixteen years of age.

A happy group of students were beaming out at the world from the flat surface of the flyer; they held books in their arms and backpacks were slung over their shoulders.

The boy holding the flyer had been staring out the bus window since the moment he sat down. He had already had to take a couple of public transports just to get to this place he would soon call his home for the entire year. That is, if he stayed there for that long.

A man with thick, grey hair sticking out in every which direction sat across the isle from the blonde. He noticed the flyer and smiled.

"Ah, you are a Kadic student, eh?" he asked. "I'm a teacher there! I teach a music class as well as coach theatre there!"

No response.

"What grade are you going into?" the man tried again, smile still on his face, as though painting a perfect depiction of what the flyer wanted one to believe about the Academy.

Yet, there was still no response.

It was then that he noticed the head phone cord that slinked down to the ipod resting on the boy's leg. If the teacher had paid closer attention to the surrounding sounds, he also would have noticed the muffled music coming from beneath the hood that covered the boy's head. 

The teacher's face fell in embarrassement and he quickly turned to look out of his own window. It was not until then that the student turned his head, having had the feeling that someone was watching him. He merely blinked at the grey-haired man before checking the time on his phone.

It was eight o'clock in the morning. Normally, classes began at that time, but considering this was the first day of school, classes were starting late and the class duration was shortened.

He debated on skipping. That idea was shut down, however, when he invisioned his parole officer's angry voice shouting and scolding him.

_"ODD DELLA ROBBIA WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING SKIPPING YOUR CLASSES?"_

No, he was not in the mood to be shouted at that day.

As the bus slowed and screeched to a halt, Odd removed the hood from his head and stood up, revealing blonde stand-up hair with a purple spot settled right in the middle. His black jacket had purple stitching along with a purple zipper. The black and red high-top DC Rebound shoes he was wearing had seen better days. The black and purple-checkered skinny jeans he wore were slightly baggy. The black studded belt was a larger size than needed and hung sideways off of his waist so it reached part way down his thigh. The large ring that pierced his bottom lip and eyebrow barbell gleamed slightly in the sunlight that reached through the bus windows.

The grey-haired teacher allowed the student sporting the large, black headphones to walk down the isle first. Odd gave a nod and a small smile of thanks.

Odd moved past people's legs that jutted out into the isle and maneuvered easily through the people that were standing. It was at this time that Odd was especially happy he chose the shipping option for his luggage.

As he stepped off the bus, he squinted in the sunlight before pulling out his aviator sunglasses and putting them on.

The bus doors squeaked closed before driving off down the road, leaving a light wind that breathed on his back.

Kadic Academy was laid out right in front of him. Students were all over the campus; some were hugging, happy to see their friends again, while others were sharing their class schedules.

"Um, excuse me," the grey-haired  teacher from the  bus said with a smile. "You didn't hear me before, but I'm a teacher here at Kadic and-"

Odd slipped his iPod into the back pocket of his jeans and began walking, leaving the teacher to make an overdramatic, upset cry over being ignored once again.

Considering that he still had  his headphones buzzing in his ears, he was not even aware that the man had tried getting his attention. Odd's focus at that moment was on keeping to himself and finding his way to the main office, which was where he was supposed to grab his class schedule.

As he walked across the school grounds, he could not help but look around at his new surroundings. It was a completely alien atmosphere, and it interested him, even though he did not have interest in becoming friends with any of the people.

Odd locked eyes with a Japanese girl with short black hair. She wore black, denim shorts and a black short-sleeved shirt. She gave him a small smile before turning back to the boy she was talking to.

**...**

Ulrich Stern was walking across the campus with his brown backpack slung across his shoulder. It was not until he heard his name being called that he stopped in his tracks.

"Ulrich!" came the female voice.

A pink-haired girl wearing a yellow v-neck shirt and khaki shorts was running toward him, waving her arm happily and smiling. A white bookbag bounced against her back as she ran. She leaped at the brunette and hugged him.

Ulrich grimaced as she hugged him a bit too tight.

"Nice to see you too, Aelita," he said in a strained voice. "But I can't breathe!"

Aelita Hopper released him from her death-hug and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, though still smiling.

"Sorry, Ulrich. How was your Summer?"

"Eh, same old, same old," he replied. "Yours?"

"Oh, it was fantastic! My favorite part of my Summer was my beach trip!"

"Which one?" Ulrich laughed.

"Both of them! Now I'm just excited to start school again and reunite with everyone."

"Ditto."

**...**

"Name?" the blonde secretary asked without looking away from her computer screen.

"Odd Della Robbia."

It was then that she did look at him, as though she expected him to be pulling her leg. When she decided he was not, she typed in the information and printed out a sheet of paper.

"Here is your schedule. Any questions?" she said as she handed the still-warm paper to him.

"Nope, ma'am," Odd replied as he pocketed the piece of paper.

"Alright, then your parole officer will be here any moment to direct you to your first class. Then you will be trusted to go to the others on your own."

Odd bit back a scoff at being treated like a child.

After exiting the office, Odd was about to put his headphones back on when a voice sounded from behind him.

"Where is your first class," Mr. Bubbles stated rather than asked in a deep voice.

Odd spun on his heel to see his parole officer.

He was a tall, African American man in his forties with a barotone voice. He was quite threatening with his bulging muscles that were evident even underneath the button-up white shirt he wore. The black trousers he always wore must have had to be found at a store for giants.

Odd looked up at the man before taking out his schedule and unfolding it.

"English. Room B22," Odd replied before folding it up and putting it back in his pocket.

"Did you ask for an extra copy so I could have one, like I asked you to do?" Mr. Bubbles asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Nope," Odd answered simply before putting his aviators back on and walking past him.

Mr. Bubbles sighed and pinched the skin on the bridge of his nose, trying to hold in the shouting he so desperately wanted to unleash.

**...**

Room B22 was filled with students considering there was only five minutes until the bell rang, which would signal students that they needed to be in their respected classrooms. All of the seats except for one were already claimed by the teenagers putting down their belongings.

Jeremie Belpois, one of Kadic's head brainiacs sat with Aelita and Ulrich in the back of the classroom. Ulrich and Jeremy sat next to each other while Aelita sat at the desk behind them. Ulrich had claimed that he needed to sit next to Jeremie so he could ask for help if he needed it.

"It's too bad we couldn't see Yumi this morning," Ulrich said.

"You'll see her at lunch for sure," Jeremie said.

"So, is this the year then?" Aelita asked.

"Year? Year  for what?" Ulrich asked, confused.

"The year that you finally learn stuff on your own rather than copying from me," Jeremie said, earning a glare from Ulrich.

"No, the year that you finally ask Yumi out," Aelita said.

Ulrich, who had been leaning back and tipping his stool almost fell over. There was a loud clang as the other two legs of the stool slammed their way back onto the tile floor, which brought some students to stop in their conversations and glance at them.

"Wh-what?" Ulrich stammered.

"Oh, come on!" Aelita said. "Just  do it already!"

Ulrich was blushing furiously as he said, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

Aelita gave a sigh of frustration as Jeremie said, "You look like a tomato."

"Would you shut up?" Ulrich snapped.

"Alright class, quiet down!" the teacher said, shutting up all conversation, including Jeremie's laughter from Ulrich's outburst.

The teacher had short, orange-blonde hair and sported red lipstick. She set her purse down on her desk and beamed out at the students.

"I am Ms. Kensington, and I am delighted to be teaching for yet another year at Kadic," she said as she put her hands together.

Ulrich put his chin in his hand, not nearly as excited as the teacher was. Jeremie and Aelita, however, perked up and listened intently.

"Now, I know that this is the first day of school. I already see some familiar faces!  This day is usually kept strictly for introductions, and so that's why we will focus on learning about each other. Then we will go over the syllabus and what we will cover in this course."

There was a knock on the door. Ms. Kensington walked over and opened the door. A deep voice could be heard over the students who were whispering as a way to continue the conversations they were having before the teacher walked in. The whispers were cut off when Ms. Kensington walked back in along with a boy with two facial piercings and his jacket hood up on his head. He had what seemed to be a permanent scowl.

"You can sit in the back next to Ms. Aelita Hopper," Ms. Kensington said.

Odd did not respond, but instead began walking to the back of the classroom.

"Students are not allowed to have their hoods up or hats on during class," Ms. Kensington said. "Oh, and no headphones."

Odd stopped walking and removed his hood. He then removed  the large black headphones that hung aroud his neck. He could feel eyes on him as he continued in the trek toward his seat.

Aelita let out a small squeak as Odd tossed his bag on the desk.

The teacher talked for a few more minutes, to which Odd did not listen to a single word. He had phased out until a paper was put in front of him on the desk; it had questions like "What is your name?" and "What are your hobbies?" They were the typical first day of school questions.

Everyone had began filling out the blank spaces, but Odd just continued staring at the sheet. He then turned to the pink-haired girl next to him.

"Um, excuse me..."

Aelita whipped her head around and said, "Wh-what?"

She expected to see the same bad-tempered face that had walked into the classroom, but it had softened to a regular facial expression.

"Do you have a pencil?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Aelita replied as she unzipped the front pocket of her bookbag.

"Thanks," he said when she handed the pencil to him.

"No problem."

Aelita went back to her own paper for a moment before she began glimpsing at what the boy next to her was writing.

"Is that your real name?" she suddenly blurted out.

"Um, yeah. Why?" Odd asked, one eyebrow up.

"Just wondering. I've never heard of such a name," Aelita said.

"Yeah, no one really has," Odd shrugged. "So, what's your name again?"

"Aelita."

"Aelita..." Odd pondered over the name. "That's a nice name."

She smiled and replied, "Thanks. So, um...where did you move from?"

Jeremie had been snooping on the conversation from the moment Odd had asked for a pencil.

"Odd...what kind of name is that?" Jeremie asked Ulrich in a hushed and aggravated tone.

"I don't know," Ulrich answered rather monotone, still filling out his paper.

"And what business does he have talking to Aelita?"

"I don't know," Ulrich answered again.

"The nerve of him!"

"Yeah, he's got some crazy nerves," Ulrich said, giving Jeremie a weird look.

"I mean, just look at him!"

The two peeked quickly over their shoulders before whipping their heads back to their own papers.

"I want to punch him in the face," Jeremie said with the same annoyed tone.

"Yeah, I'd like to see that!" Ulrich laughed, not keeping his voice down, causing Jeremie to glare at him.

When the bell rang, signalling the end of class, the students began filing out of the room. Jeremie and Ulrich were  waiting on Aelita outside of the classroom. Ulrich was simply texting while Jeremy had his arms crossed as he tapped his foot.

"What is taking her so long?" Jeremie asked.

"Dunno," Ulrich shrugged.

It was then that Aelita and Odd walked out of the classroom laughing about something unknown to the two waiting.

Jeremie coughed to get Aelita's attention.

"Oh, hi!" she greeted.

"Hi," Jeremie said seriously.

"I'd like you both to meet Odd Della Robbia," Aelita said, showing him to them with her hands as though he was an award-winning project. "This is Ulrich, and this is Jeremie."

"Hello," Ulrich smiled.

"Pleasure," Jeremy snapped. "Can we go now?"

Ulrich, Aelita, Odd, and Jeremie were walking to their next class. Jeremie was not happy at all that the new guy was coming along with them.

"So, Odd, what's your next class?" Ulrich asked.

"Science with Mrs. Hertz," Odd replied.

"That's my next class too!" Aelita said.

"Hey, mine too," Ulrich said as well.

"Same," Jeremie replied smugly.

Odd blinked and then smiled at Ulrich and Aelita.

Aelita then squeezed in between Odd and Ulrich, looping her arms in theirs.

"Shall we, then?" she said happily, partly dragging Ulrich and Odd with her as she walked faster.

Jeremie continued walking the same pace, all the while glaring at the new guy.

He did not like this Odd Della Robbia character at all.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> College has been destroying me lately. I seriously felt like every time I got assigned a new project the Mortal Kombat voice would go "FINISH HIM." Except I'm a girl so I guess it would be "FINISH HER."

Classes had not been too boring that day, which greatly surprised Odd. And what was even more surprising was that he actually liked some of the other students. However, not all of the people were as cool and welcoming as Aelita and Ulrich; one of those people had a name starting with the letter S.

"And here's the cafeteria!" Aelita announced, spreading her arms out as if she were showing off some type of big masterpiece.

Odd looked around and noticed students sitting at tables while others were in line getting food piled onto their trays.

 "Are you not allowed to go out into town and eat?" Odd asked when he saw what the lunch lady was serving.

Some of the food did not look too awful, but others were unrecognizable. The menu for the day appeared to be mashed potatoes and green beans and some other type of strange brown stuff that did not resemble any particular food. When it came to food, however, Odd was not too picky. He supposed he had eaten worse things in the past.

"No," Aelita answered, shrugging. "It's dumb, I know, but some of the stuff here is actually pretty good."

Aelita noticed a girl she had not yet greeted with the new school year and took off to converse with her, leaving them behind.

"I wouldn't get the meatloaf if I were you though," Ulrich said as he stepped forward. "I could've sworn I saw it move on its own once."

“Tasty,” Odd replied dully.

Ulrich led the way in grabbing trays and getting into the lunch line. Odd was following right behind.

The lunch lady was a heavy-set woman with gray hair. She had a welcoming and friendly face for every single student in the line.

"Well hello there, sweet pea!"

Odd moved his eyes away from the strange brown substance that was before him and looked up at her.

"You're an unfamiliar face! You new this year?" she said with a smile.

"Um, yeah," Odd replied as Ulrich snickered beside him.

"I knew it. I always remember the faces of the students here! I’ll bet if I saw one that graduated five years ago, I would recognize him or her,” the woman said triumphantly. “What's your name?"

Odd knew that the line was building up beside him, but that did not seem to faze the woman one bit. She was just interested in getting to know him, even if it meant interfering with her job.

He awkwardly looked to the side of him at the people being held up before responding.

"Odd Della Robbia."

"Odd? Well ain't that just a name I've never heard before!" she exclaimed loudly. "Welcome to Kadic Academy!"

Odd gave an awkward half-smile, but it was short-lived as an angry, shrill voice erupted beside him.

"Exc _use_ me!"

Odd turned in the direction of the loud voice and saw that it belonged to a girl with long, black hair. She was wearing a white spaghetti-strap shirt with short, dark blue shorts, and wooden wedge shoes.

She was also wearing a face of annoyance.

"Some of us are trying to get some food around here! So can you move?" she demanded.

"Woah, calm down botched nose!" Odd replied loudly and suddenly before walking away

The girl stood there in shock while the other students snickered behind her. Ulrich’s mouth had fallen open as he watched Odd walk away. He let out a laugh before turning on his heel, giving a smirk at the black-haired girl, and following his new friend, all the while wondering where the hell that outburst came from. Up until then, Odd had been rather quiet.

Ulrich caught up and started walking next to Odd.

"So, you've met one of the nicest people here, and one of the meanest," Ulrich said as they walked to a table where a girl with short black hair sat.

Odd recognized her as the one he had seen earlier.

"Hey, Ulrich," Yumi said, smiling at him as he sat down.

“Hey, Yumi,” Ulrich said somewhat bashfully. “How was your summer?”

“Same old, same old,” Yumi replied. “Nothing too special. Yours?”

“Ditto,” Ulrich replied. “Oh, and this is Odd Della Robbia. He’s a new student.”

“I heard word that there was a new student,” Yumi said. “Nice to meet you. I’m Yumi Ishiyama.”

“So, you’ve heard about me even though I’ve only been here for a few hours?” Odd asked with a cocked eyebrow, the metal sticking through glinting slightly in the sunlight coming through the window.

“What can I say? Word around here spreads fast,” Yumi shrugged. "So, where are you from?"

After Odd told her about where he was from, he mimicked as if he was reading her mind.

"Let me guess, you're from…Japan?"

"True. I can’t believe you got it! Almost everyone thinks I’m Chinese. I moved here when I was just a baby, though, and have only been back a couple of times,” Yumi replied.

"Hello, hello again!" Aelita said as she set her tray on the table and sat down.

"Hey, where's Jeremie?" Yumi asked.

"Oh, I don't know. I haven't seen him since-"

"Hey guys…" came Jeremie’s gloomy voice as he sat down.

His choice of seating could not be more obvious in his motives as he pulled up a chair to sit in between Odd and Aelita.

"Oh, well lookie here! I found him!" Aelita said jokingly as she pointed at him.

"Where were you?" Yumi asked, stifling the grin that was threatening to emerge from the disgruntled look on Odd’s face.

He was clearly bothered by how close Jeremie had decided to sit next to him.

"Oh, I just ran up to my room really fast to do something," he answered, perking up a bit.

Jeremie had given himself a mental pep-talk on his way to and from his room; he was not going to let this new kid bother him too much. No, he had to keep his rightful place in the group.

After all, his friends were just being nice. Odd was not going to stick around for long.

"Well, Odd had his first Sissi encounter," Ulrich said with a smirk as he pushed a green bean around on his tray.

At this, everyone began staring at Odd. His eyes widened a bit at the sudden attention.

"Really?" Aelita asked.

"Oh boy, what happened?" Yumi asked, placing a hand on her forehead.

One aspect of Kadic she did not miss over the summer was Sissi. Not just because of her loud-mouthed rudeness, but also because of her infatuation with Ulrich.

"Yes, do tell," Jeremie smirked.

He was hoping that Sissi had put him to shame.

Ulrich started laughing as he told them how the whole encounter went down. Everyone started laughing as well, minus Jeremie, who was disappointed.

"Wow, it's like you're part of the group already Odd!" Yumi said between laughs.

“What got me was that it came literally out of nowhere!” Ulrich laughed out. “I was going to jump in and help, but you just burst something out so loud and random.”

Yumi and Aelita cracked up even more at that.

Odd could not help but laugh as well. He was enjoying the way he fit into this group so well and so fast. It made him wonder if his time there would not be so bad after all.

Jeremie had crossed his arms and stopped eating. He had suddenly lost his appetite.

"What is this that I got?" Odd asked, once the laughter had died down.

He poked at the strange brown substance with his fork.

"I told you not to get the meatloaf," Ulrich said.

"Aw man, is that what I got?"

Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi all replied “Yes” at the same time.

Odd took a bite of it cautiously and then shrugged, "It ain't that bad."

"Ewww, nasty!" Aelita said as she giggled.

Jeremie just glared at Odd.

What did they think was so great about him?

**… … … … …**

The sky outside had grown dark, which was a sign that students had to start making their way up to their rooms.

Much to Jeremie’s aggravation, Odd just so happened to be roomed with Ulrich. Needless to say, the others were thrilled. Ulrich did not show that emotion too much, but Jeremie could tell he was happy with the rooming situation. This puzzled him a bit. Ulrich was not much for random roommates.

The whole gang decided to reside in Odd and Ulrich’s room. Aelita had stated that her room was mostly set up already. Jeremie said that all he had left to do was set up his technology equipment, which no one in the group knew how to help him with except for Aelita. She told him she would help him with it if he needed her to do so.

Neither boys had even begun to set up their room, so both sat on their respected beds and began unpacking what they had. Aelita leaned against Odd’s bed, folding t-shirts and hoodies. Ulrich was receiving help from Yumi and a bit of help from Jeremie.

“I can fold my own clothes,” Odd laughed.

Aelita playfully glared at him, “I don’t know how else to help.”

“You could organize CDs or hang posters or something,” Odd offered.

“Nah,” Aelita responded.

“Brat,” Odd responded jokingly and she laughed.

Jeremie rolled his eyes, to the notice of Yumi and Ulrich, but neither said anything.

Two hours later, the room was mostly set up with posters on the ceiling and wall. Clothes were hanging up in the closet and folded in drawers. CDs were organized on a rack and an iHome was docked on the top of the dresser with Odd’s iPod playing softly on it.

Ulrich had looked through the artists with Odd’s permission and chose his favorite artist on there.

Yumi stood up and stretched her arms.

“I should be getting home,” Yumi said. “Can’t be too late getting home. Especially on a school night.”

“Don’t remind me,” Ulrich grumbled as he placed his textbooks and notebooks in his book bag so it was ready for the following day.

“Later,” Yumi said as she left.

Everyone responded except Jeremie, who was sitting in the desk chair. He was lost in thought. Aelita, Ulrich, and Odd were laughing about something unknown to him. Clearly, it was something Odd said because Aelita shoved his shoulder playfully.

The very interaction made Jeremie grit his teeth.

**… … … … …**


	3. Chapter 3

The steady, flat beeping of the alarm clock awoke Ulrich early the next morning. Groaning, he slapped his hand over it, turning it off. He always hated waking up this early, the beginnings of sunrise were barely shining through the blinds.

Ulrich peaked out from under his pillow. He could see the back of Odd’s head. The alarm must have not disturbed him at all because he was clearly still asleep.

Sighing, Ulrich uncovered himself and got out of bed.

He went over to his roommate’s bed and nudged him.

"Odd…" he said. "Time to get up…"

But the boy was not waking up, he just continued snoring slightly.

Ulrich tried again, nudging him harder this time. Odd jerked awake.

"What?" he growled, annoyed.

"Time to wake up…" Ulrich said again.

"No.”

Ulrich rolled his eyes.

"Come on, man. You don't really have a choice. Get up."

Giving a growl of frustration, Odd uncovered himself and got out of bed.

Ulrich thought he himself was not a morning person, but Odd was a complete grump.

“You know where the bathroom is?” Ulrich asked.

Odd grunted, which Ulrich took as a yes. Ulrich just hummed to himself, as he put his toothbrush in his mouth, shoved his hands in his shorts pockets, and walked out the door.

When his roommate left, Odd had to resist the urge to collapse back onto his own bed.

* * *

The shower rooms were busy with other boarding students when Aelita got out of the shower. Sometimes, she enjoyed waking up earlier than most students so she could be one of the first to get to the showers.

Aelita was brushing through her short, pink hair as she stood at the mirrors. Just as she began applying her mascara was when she heard an all too familiar voice.

"…ring in his lip and he makes fun of _me_. _Seriously?_ What a joke!"

"I know, Sissi…" another voice chimed in to the conversation.

Aelita knew that Sissi did not really have any true girl friends. Whenever she wished to vent to any of them, however, she knew which ones to seek out because of the fact that they would not talk back.

Aelita tried to be nonchalant as she saw the girls reflections appeared behind her. Sissi pulled a hair brush out of her bag and began brushing her long, black hair.

"He can’t be that bad, Sissi" a brown-haired girl beside her said as Sissi approached the mirror a little ways down from Aelita.

"Who asked _you_ , Tina?" Sissi spat. "He looks like he belongs in jail or…or a trailer park…or a dumpster!"

"Oh, come on Sissi…" Tina put her hands on her hips.

The other girls said nothing. They did not appear to disagree or agree. They simply did not want to be yelled at by Sissi.

“ _Tina!_ ” Sissi scolded again before turning away from her. "No, I can't stand trash, and especially in my school!"

Aelita continued listening as she packed up her belongings.

"And for Ulrich, my precious Ulrich, to be hanging around with such a thing just won't fly with me. He insulted me right in front of him!"

“Oh yeah, I heard about that,” one of the girls said.

Aelita could not help but roll her eyes at the mention of her friend. Ulrich did not even like Sissi. He simply could not stand her.

"I know my ways of keeping everyone here in their place,” Sissi said as she waved her brush around smartly. "Odd Della Robbia will not be in my school and enjoying it.”

* * *

Ulrich pulled on his dark blue jeans, hair still dripping a bit from his shower. Odd rounded the corner out of the shower area already partially dressed with dark blue, slightly faded jeans on; a black and white stud belt hung on his waist.

"Ah damn it!" Odd said when he got to the mirrors.

"What?" Ulrich asked looking at him, surprised at the sudden outburst.

"I forgot a shirt in the room."

Ulrich stared at him for a moment before saying, “Then go get one.”

"I forgot the key.”

Ulrich pulled his own key out of his pocket and held it up.

“What are roommates for?”

"Thanks,” Odd said with a grin as he pocketed it.

Ulrich watched as he walked out the door. It was not the fact that Odd’s outfit was tamer than the day before that caught Ulrich’s eye. There were a couple of things. One was the tattoo on the back of his right shoulder. It appeared to be another language, but he could not make out what.

The other, Ulrich was not sure whether it was a trick of the light or not. Figuring, it was none of his business either way, he went back to getting ready for the day.

* * *

Odd was walking down the hall at a quick pace, looking at each door to make sure he made it to the right one. Suddenly, he felt someone run into him and knock him to the floor.

Odd opened his eyes to see what the weight on top of him was. To his surprise, it was Aelita.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Odd! I was just…" Aelita said as she stumbled around looking for something to say.

"It's okay, no problem," he said interrupting her talking.

"Are you okay?" she asked, not seeming to fully understand that he was shirtless and she was lying on top of him…in the middle of the hallway.

The boy looked around awkwardly instead of answering her question.

"Um, do you think I could maybe get up now?" he asked.

Aelita blushed a bright red as she realized her position.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry," she said.

Before Aelita could get up, however, they heard a grunting cough.

Aelita looked up from her spot on top of Odd as he tipped his head back from his spot on the floor. They both saw a gruff, brown-haired man in gym clothes glaring at them with his arms crossed.

“What is going on here?” he demanded.

Aelita stood up quickly and swished her hands over her pink blouse. She was blushing even more.

“O-oh, um, nothing Jim. I-I was just walking and we then sort of just…ran into each other," she said as Odd popped up beside her.

"Mhm, yeah. Why were you here in the boys’ hall this early exactly?" Jim asked.

"Well…uh…umm…"

"She needed to borrow something for biology class today," Odd answered for her.

"Oh, really? Then why didn't she just give it to you during class?" Jim asked, bending down more to their eye level.

"Because he forgets too easy. He's very forgetful," Aelita answered, earning a slight narrow-eyed look from Odd.

"Is that so?" Gym asked as he continued staring down at them.

“Can we go now?” Odd asked, becoming more aggravated with the man.

Gym looked at the boy more properly now.

“Where’s your shirt?” Jim asked before shaking his head. “Never mind, just go get properly dressed!”

* * *

Aelita had stood in the hallway for a few moments, before deciding to follow Odd to his room. The door was open a crack and she caught sight of him before she made her presence known.

What she saw made her breath hitch in her throat. There were scars covering his back. There were long ones and short ones. Some were wider than others.

She only it for a couple of seconds before he slipped a black shirt over his head. Aelita rapped her knuckles against the door frame and Odd turned his head and smiled at her.

“Hey,” he greeted.

Aelita forced a smile onto her face as she greeted him as well.

"Oh, um, sorry I was on top of you when you were…you know...shirtless," she apologized as he unlocked the door and walked inside.

Odd laughed and said, “No problem. I’m glad I was able to cushion your fall.”

He looked much more pleasant today. He no longer wore purple and black checkered skinny jeans or piercings in his face. He looked more smoothed out in a way. Now, he looked more friendly.

“You okay? You look a little-“

Aelita had not noticed that she had been staring at him, but she quickly regained her composure and interrupted him.

“Oh, yeah! Sorry. I just sort of phased out,” Aelita said.

Odd did not respond. Instead, he turned and began putting his piercings back into their respected places. Aelita watched as he slipped the lip ring and eyebrow ring through his skin with ease. She was surprised when she saw him take out a tongue ring and replace it with a larger, gold one.

How had she not noticed that before?

Aelita mentally slapped herself as she realized she was staring again. He probably thought she was the biggest creep.

"You ready to go down to breakfast then?" Odd asked.

"Yeah! I'm starved, let's go!" she said as she opened the door and stepped out, Odd following.

* * *

In the cafeteria, Jeremie was already sitting at a table. It was the same one as the day before. Jeremie was not sure how they always managed to get that same table, but he did not dwindle too much on it.

He was typing away on his laptop while he ate a croissant and drank coffee. The cafeteria was starting to fill up with students.

The sound of Aelita's voice coming from outside caused him to look up. When he saw her walking with Odd, his face fell into disgust.

Aelita and Odd both walked up the steps to the cafeteria door, but Odd stepped in front of her and opened the door for her and mockingly bowed like as though he were a real gentlemen.

"After you princess," he said as he bowed.

Aelita laughed and said, “Thank you, sir.”

Jeremie went back to his laptop screen, but his fingers were no longer skirting across the keys like before.

* * *

* * *

 


	4. Chapter 4

"So, what were you doing in the boys’ hallway anyway?" Ulrich asked.

Aelita thought for a moment, her fork with egg paused at her mouth.

"Oh! Now I remember! I was going to Jeremy's room."

Jeremie looked up from his laptop with a narrow-eyed expression before turning to her.

“Oh! You remember?” he asked mockingly.

"Yeah, I guess I'd forgotten," she said shrugging and going back to her breakfast.

"You forgot?" Jeremie mocked again.

Aelita looked at him quizzically and said, "Yes? Why are you repeating everything I say?"

"I was just wondering what you were visiting me for in the first place…and how you managed to forget," he said.

Jeremie liked the fact that she was going to see him, but not liking the fact that she had ditched the idea for Odd. Also, that she had forgotten that she was going to see him in the first place! Was he really that forgettable?

"I was just going to walk with you to breakfast, that’s all, " Aeilita said in a no-big-deal tone.

"Oh! Well, if that's all then," Jeremie responded sarcastically, earning a sideways looks from Aelita.

Odd was choosing to appear nonchalant to the whole conversation, though, he was still listening.

"Ew, you drink your coffee black?" Aelita asked him, clearly done with her conversation with Jeremie.

Odd just shrugged, “Yes ma’am.”

"But it tastes so...so..."

"Good?"

"No! Nasty! Jeremy likes his black too, don't you, Jer?" Ulrich said.

Jeremie nodded, "I like mine super, extra, extra dark. So dark you can't even see the bottom of the mug."

Odd looked at him with a cocked brow and nodded, “That’s…usually how it’s brewed, yeah.”

Odd was not dense. He noticed how Jeremie acted whenever he was around. He was unsure of how to talk to him; he figured that maybe the feeling was mutual.

“Yeah, but, not quite like I like it,” Jeremie argued.

Odd gave him a quizzical look. This competition Jeremie was starting was completely pointless and made zero sense, but he figured he would play along.

"Really?”

“Mhm,” Jeremie replied smartly. “I don’t drink the crappy, lighter coffee you are probably consuming.”

Ulrich and Aelita were watching them; their eyes were darting back and forth between the boys as each of them responded to each other.

“Well, as appealing as your golden coffee sounds, why don’t you taste mine?” Odd asked, scooting the mug across the table.

Jeremie looked at the steaming mug with slight concern and regret of ever talking.

"Go on, I don't have cooties," Odd said, smirking.

Jeremie scoffed, picked up the mug, and took a sip. His eyes automatically grew wide and he set the mug back down rather violently. His face was contorted into a strange expression of surprise and pain.

"Jeremie? Are…are you okay?" Aelita asked with concern.

Jeremie swallowed, his eyes watering. He then gasped for air and choked a bit.   
Odd picked up his mug again and innocently said, “Hm, I guess it is still pretty hot.”

Aelita was patting Jeremie on the back as he continued gasping and coughing.

“Oops,” Odd said, with zero remorse in his voice as Jeremie started drinking madly from his glass of orange juice.

"Odd Della Robbia," a voice said from beside the table.

They all looked up to see the principal, except Jeremie.

He slammed his now empty glass down on the table and gasped, "That was freaking hot…"

Mr. Delmas gave Jeremie a strange look before continuing, "Someone is here to see you. He's right outside the cafeteria. I suggest you don't keep him waiting."

They all four looked out to see a huge man standing outside the cafeteria. He was in a sleek business suit. It was amazing anyone made suits that fit such muscular men.

Odd looked back down at the table.

"Oh, shit. Tiny…" he muttered.

"Tiny?" Ulrich asked. "Odd, who is that?"

Odd did not respond as he stood up and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Who do you suppose that is?" Aelita asked as she watched him from the window.

"Well, according to Odd, it's Tiny. Whatever that means," Ulrich shrugged.

"Whoever he is, I hope he punches him in the face," Jeremie grumbled.

"Jeremy! Why on earth would you say that?" Aelita asked.

"Um, hello? He burnt my tongue!” Jeremie pointed at his tongue as he stuck it out.

"That was your own fault buddy," Ulrich pointed out.

"Yeah, you were being a total jerk. Why, I'm not sure," Aelita said, crossing her arms. "You've been acting kind of off since he showed up. What's up with you?"

"What's up with me? I don't like him! I mean, have you seen him? He's obviously here because he didn't belong in the last place he was at, or he just got kicked out, or both."

"Jeremie," Aelita said stricly. "His personal life is no business of ours. So what if he's different? He's nice, and friendly, and…"

"Nothing but trouble? Total freak?" Jeremie interrupted.

Aelita scoffed and stared at him in disbelief.

"You don't know what you're talking about Jeremie!" Ulrich said, defending his new friend. "You haven't even tried to get to know him."

Jeremie did not respond to his friend’s outburst. Instead, he closed his laptop and stood up.

"Whatever. If you guys want to continue defending some loser jerk then that's fine with me. You have fun with that. But I'm not wasting my time!"

"Jeremie, wait!" Aelita said as she caught up to him.

Aelita definitely did not want him to leave on a bad note, no matter how ridiculous he was being. She absolutely hated any animosity amongst her friends.

Jeremie stopped walking when she called out to him, but did not turn around.

"Can't you just try to get to know him? Please? For me, and for us?" she asked.

Jeremie sighed angrily.

"Fine. Now are we going to class or what?"

Aelita smiled and gave Jeremie a hug.

"Oh, thank you Jeremie! Won't it be great to have a new addition to our little group of friendship?" Aelita asked as though they were adopting a new puppy.

"Yeah, sure…" Jeremie muttered.

* * *

When Ulrich, Jeremie, and Aelita reached the classroom, they noticed Odd was already there. He was talking to the giant man again.

"Hey, Odd!” Aelita called.

"Oh, hey guys…this is-“ Odd started.

“Tiny. Mr. Tiny,” the man said in a deep voice.

Ulrich and Jeremie snickered, but then but saw Odd waving his hand across his throat in a ‘cut-it-out’ motion as he shook his head. This shut them up and wiped the smiles off their faces.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Tiny…" they said in unison.

Once in the classroom, Odd, Aelita, Ulrich, and Jeremie were sitting in their seats.

"What do you have a parole officer for?" Jeremie asked.

The three looked at Odd, waiting for an answer but did not receive one. Odd was looking out the window, clearly spacing out.

"Um, hello? Earth to Odd!" Aelita said.

"Yo, Della Robbia!" Ulrich said loudly.

This snapped him out of his daze.

"Hm? What?"

"What the heck was that?” Ulrich asked.

Odd just shrugged and said, “I’m tired.”

Ulrich rolled his eyes.

"Jeremie asked why you had a parole officer," Aelita said.

"I don't want to talk about that right now," Odd snapped.

This shut them all up, putting them in an awkward silence. Thankfully, the teacher walked in about ten seconds later and started the lesson.

* * *

* * *

 


	5. Chapter 5

Two months had passed since the first day of school. Since that argument in the cafeteria between Ulrich, Aelita, and Jeremie, there had been no problems. Jeremie and Odd had been getting along rather well, but it was still quite visible that Jeremie was still bothered by him.

Jeremie had hoped he would be out of their group by now.

It was a hot Friday with absolutely no breeze in the air. Students were eager for Autumn, but still excited that the weather was so nice.

Ulrich, Aelita, Jeremie, and Yumi were standing outside. Yumi was mentally scolding herself for wearing black jeans, even though she still had a white tank top on. She flipped her hair as sweat began to drip down the back of her neck.

Odd, Ulrich, Aelita, and Jeremie had been in gym class. Ulrich had noticed that the t-shirt Odd wore for classes that day was the same he wore for gym, but did not comment on it. Odd had run up to the room to change and now they were waiting for him to come back down.

“Why didn’t he bring a shirt to change into in the locker room?” Jeremie asked as he fanned himself with his t-shirt.

“Dunno,” Ulrich said as he leaned against the wall with his arms behind his head. “All I know is I could go for some ice cream. Anyone else?”

They all agreed in unison.

After a couple of more minutes, Jeremie said, “Seriously, what is taking him so long?”

Aelita lightly kicked him in the hip with her foot. He stumbled and she laughed

Odd came outside and said, “Sorry. I couldn’t find my phone.”

“How did you lose your phone within that short amount of time?” Jeremie asked, slightly annoyed.

Odd made a face at him that involved sticking out his tongue.

“Cute,” Jeremie responded.

Yumi, Ulrich, and Aelita laughed.

“So, we are going to get ice cream,” Ulrich said as they started walking. “Sound good?”

“Sure,” Odd replied, hands in the pockets of his dark maroon jeans.

When they were in town and walking down the street, the exhaust from the cars just made them even hotter.

Aelita huffed and said, “I should’ve dropped my book bag off.”

“Good thing Odd brought mine up to the room with him,” Ulrich said, waggling a finger.

“Roommate love,” Yumi said, smiling and tilting her head.

Odd began removing the white book bag from Aelita’s shoulders, causing her to stop walking and make a noise of surprise. He put the bag on his own shoulders.

“Thanks,” Aelita grinned, putting an arm on his shoulder as they kept walking.

“No problem, princess,” Odd replied.

“Gentlemanly,” Ulrich smirked as he elbowed him.

Odd shrugged and said, “I try, good buddy. I try.”

“If being a gentleman is wearing a Johnny Cash shirt with him flipping his middle finger,” Jeremie said.

"Why is it so freaking hot!" Odd exclaimed suddenly, completely ignoring Jeremy and just about scaring him out of his wits.

“Why are you so loud?!” he exclaimed.

“Because I can be, Jer! Because I can be!” Odd shouted back, causing people to stare.

“People are staring at us, shut up!” Aelita said, unable to suppress her giggles.

When they were finally at the ice cream shop, they were greeted with cold air conditioning. They all took a deep breath when they stepped inside, grateful for the cool air. Jeremie, Aelita, and Odd ordered first, then Yumi stepped up to the counter. After she ordered, the cashier looked at her expectantly as Yumi fished around in her pockets and book bag.

"Oh, shoot!" Yumi exclaimed. "I forgot my money at home!"

"Oh, that's okay. I'll pay for you, Yumi," Ulrich said as he got his wallet out and took out a five dollar bill and ordered what he wanted.

"Thanks, Ulrich! I'll pay you-"

"Nope. It's on me," he interrupted her, holding up a hand.

"Oh, okay. Thanks,” she said, smiling.

Ulrich absolutely loved her smile; he thought it was beautiful. He thought she herself was beautiful as well. Looking at her, he could not help but smile as well. It was not until he heard a shout from across the room that he realized he had been staring.

"Hey, love birds!" Odd called.

Yumi and Ulrich’s faces both turned pink. The woman handing them their ice cream could not help but laugh.

"Are we going to have to drag you over here or what?" Odd continued.

Jeremie and Aelita were snickering behind their ice creams.

Ulrich and Yumi hurried over, avoiding the stares coming from others in the room.

As they walked, Ulrich heard an elderly woman mutter to her husband, "Aw, remember when we were that age and in love?”

Ulrich blushed even more. By the time he got to the table, he was bright red.

"You look like a cherry," Jeremie stated.

"Thank you, Jeremie," Ulrich grumbled.

Odd and Aelita laughed.

"Will you guys stop laughing?!" Ulrich demanded, turning on Odd and Aelita.

After the laughter at Ulrich and Yumi’s expense had died down, along with the blushing, they began talking about other things. It was not until about half an hour later that two boys their age walked by the window where the gang was sitting. They both began waving, cigarettes in their hands. They earned themselves a strange look from Yumi, Ulrich, Jeremy, and Aelita.

"Um, what are they doing?" Yumi asked.

"I don't-" Jeremie started to answer but stopped when he saw Odd waving back at them.

The two boys then motioned with their heads for him to come outside, but Odd just showed his phone as a way of telling them to text him. They nodded and continued walking.

Odd turned back to the table like nothing had even happened, but his friends continued staring at him.

When he finally noticed that no one was talking and he was being stared at, he asked, "What?"

"You know them?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah,” he replied as he answered a text that was most likely from the people who were just at the window.

“Who were they?” Aelita asked.

“Just some friends,” Odd answered absentmindedly.

They all looked at each other and shrugged.

“Alrighty then,” Ulrich said.

“Do you mind if I catch you guys later?” Odd asked, standing up and placing his phone in his back pocket.

"Where are you going?" Aelita asked.

“Gotta meet Tiny somewhere,” Odd replied. “Later.”

With that, he walked out of the ice cream shop. They all shrugged again and began talking.

Odd had been walking down the street for five minutes when he ran into the friends from the ice cream shop window.

One of the boys’ names was Blake; he sported dread locks, baggy army print shorts, and a septum piercing. The other’s name was Tommy; he had short black hair.

“So what do you think?” Blake asked. “Want to go?”

“I don’t know,” Odd replied.

“Come on,” Tommy said, rolling his eyes. “What else do you have to do? Hang with those losers you were just with?”

Odd glared at him and growled, “They’re friends of mine, Tommy.”

Tommy held up his hands and smiled.

“Come on, man,” Blake urged. “It’ll be great. Like old times.”

Odd looked off in the direction he came from then back at his two friends who were staring at them with their eyebrows raised, stupid grins on their faces, and hands out.

“Get those stupid ass grins off your faces, give me a damn cigarette, and let’s go,” Odd said, earning slaps on the back and cheers.

* * *

* * *

 


	6. Chapter 6

"Where could he be?" Aelita asked with concern as she looked at the clock again.

It was seven o’clock in the evening, and they had been sitting in Aelita's room since they returned from town three hours prior.

Odd was not answering his phone. They had seen Mr. Tiny earlier, and he had asked where Odd was. Their response was that they thought he was with him. It was clear to see that he was not happy at all.

"I don't know, but I'm starting to get worried," Yumi said, sitting next to her pink-haired friend on the bed.

Jeremie sighed in exasperation and said, "You guys, I'm sure he's fine! He's a big boy, he can take care of himself."

"Yeah, but he’s not answering our calls or texts. Do you suppose we should go look for him?" Ulrich asked.

Jeremie shook his head and said, "No.”

“But-“

“No.”

"Fine, but I'm going to call him again," Ulrich said.

* * *

Odd could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket as he sat on the beanbag chair inside a crowded apartment.

There was loud music bouncing off the walls. Beer bottles littered the floor. People were stumbling around, talking, singing, laughing, and playing drinking games. A shattered shot glass lie neglected on the floor in front of Odd’s feet.

"Whoooo is iiiit?" Odd sang into the phone.

“Where the heck are you?” Ulrich asked.

"Oh, heyyyy Ulrich. I’m, umm, ya know…chillin’," he answered before taking a drink of beer.

“Killin’,” one of his friends chimed in, earning a grin.

“Where are you? It sounds really loud,” Aelita asked.

Ulrich had put the call on speaker.

“Just a little shindig,” Odd answered.

“One, two, three, four, I declare a beer pong war,” Blake said as he stumbled over to Odd.

Odd laughed as his friend began shaking the chair he was sitting in.

“You do remember that there’s a curfew?” Yumi asked.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be back in a couple hours,” Odd said before hanging up.

There was a small moment of silence until Ulrich said, “Well, okay then.”

“What are you smirking at?” Yumi asked Jeremie.

“I told you so!” he said.

"Told us what?" Aelita asked.

"I told you he would be nothing but trouble. Did I not tell you this? I believe I did."

"Really, Jeremie? With this again?" Aelita asked with aggravation. "You've been getting along with him fine these past couple of months."

There was a knock on the door and Aelita stood up to open it. Opening the door revealed a large man they all recognized immediately.

“Hello,” Mr. Tiny said. “I’ve just come by to ask if you have seen Odd yet, or heard anything from him."

Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita looked at each other uncertainly.

"Um, we…no. No, we haven't heard from him or seen him," Ulrich responded.

Mr. Tiny stared at him, almost as if seeing right through his lie. His gaze made Ulrich gulp in nervousness.

“He’s at a party,” Jeremie said suddenly.

Ulrich stared at him with wide eyes, in disbelief that he sold out his friend.

"At a party?” Mr. Tiny questioned, though he did not sound surprised at all.

“Yep,” Jeremie answered, swiveling the computer chair a little with his feet.

A dark look overcame the parole officer’s face.

"Thank you. Have a good night," Mr. Tiny said in a pleasant, yet angry tone.

"Well, I hope you're proud of yourself," Yumi said to Jeremie once the door closed.

"He had the right to know what Odd was doing and where he was," Jeremie responded.

“Is that why you aren’t looking at me when you say it?” Yumi asked with venom.

Jeremie looked over at her and repeated himself, “He had the right to know.”

"That's not what you were thinking. You just wanted him to get in trouble!" Aelita said angrily. “And congratulations, Jeremie. You’ve succeeded!”

Jeremie shrugged, but did not respond verbally.

Yumi stood up and walked to the door.

“That was a rotten thing to do, Jeremie, and you know it! What has he ever done to you?" she shouted.

With that, she stomped out the door.

"Yumi, wait!" Ulrich called after her before going after her.

* * *

 

"How could he be such a jerk?" Yumi said as she and Ulrich walked across the increasingly-darkening campus.

"I don't know. He's been like this since the beginning of the school year. It's weird," Ulrich answered.

"You want to know what I think? I think he's jealous."

"Jealous?" he questioned. "How so?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? Aelita and Odd have become pretty close, and he's part of our group now isn't he?”

"Yeah, and?"

"Come on, Ulrich!” Yumi said. “Jeremie is, like, _in love_ with Aelita. We were also his first friends here. I think he really doesn’t want to share any of us."

Ulrich thought about it, and things began piecing together. Aelita _had_ been paying a lot of attention to Odd; possibly even more so than toward Jeremie. It also seemed like they had not been including Jeremie as much as they used to, or rather, that he had not been joining in quite as much. Ulrich felt bad, because he felt that they should have realized and let him know that they would not forget about him.

"I think we owe him an apology," Ulrich said, earning a surprised look from Yumi.

"What? Why?"

"Think about it, Yumi. Jeremy has been feeling weird about us having a new friend in the group for a while, and we didn’t even really notice. We just took it as him being a huge douche, but in reality, he’s just worried about us forgetting him. To top it off, he's jealous of Odd and Aelita’s relationship.”

"So, what? We've met a kid that we really click with. Why is that such a problem?" Yumi asked.

There was still a hint of annoyance in her voice, but she understood what Ulrich said. Her tough demeanor soon fell, and she sighed.

“I guess you’re right,” Yumi said. “We’ll have to talk to him about it.”

They walked in silence for a couple of minutes. They were off of campus by now, and Ulrich knew that, at this point, if he got caught outside he would be punished with a detention or two. Ulrich thought it was worth it, though; walking with Yumi and seeing the reflection of the street lamps on her hair and her eyes that he thought were breathtaking.

“Hey, uh, Yumi?” Ulrich said, and she looked at him. “I was just…wondering if…maybe…you would want to go-“

"There's Odd!" Yumi said suddenly, pointing to the figure walking down the sidewalk toward them.

Striding along the sidewalk like he had all the time in the world, was Odd. He did not seem to notice his two friends standing a short distance away.

Ulrich and Yumi both stood with their arms crossed, waiting for him to reach them. When he finally did, he just kept walking past them.

Yumi and Ulrich looked at him, then at each other.

"What the-Odd!" Ulrich called.

Odd stopped walking and spun on his heel to look at them.

“Oh, hey!” he waved.

Ulrich rolled his eyes and walked over to him, “Yeah, hey.”

“Oh, hey! Yumi is here too!” Odd said, over-excited.

“Yes, Yumi is here too,” Ulrich said quizzically with an eyebrow up.

Odd nodded looking at them both, but did not say anything. There was an awkward silence between the three of them. Odd’s pupils were dilated and bloodshot. His breath smelled of liquor and his clothes smelled smokey.

“Are you drunk?” Ulrich asked.

Odd grabbed the sides of Ulrich face and said with a smile, “Maybe.”

“You’re high too aren’t you?” Ulrich asked with narrow eyes.

“Dabs are a beautiful thing, Ulrich,” Odd responded simply before lightly slapping Ulrich’s face a couple of times. “Later, gator.”

Odd began walking away before Ulrich grabbed him, “Hold it, good buddy.”

He pulled him back and said, “If you get caught by Jim-“

“Aren’t you in the same boat?” Odd asked.

“No! I’m not!”

“Potato, tomato…”

Ulrich flicked him between the eyes.

* * *

Aelita and Jeremie were still sitting in Aelita’s room.

"It's been awhile since we've spent time together, just us," Aelita said.

"I know, it has been awhile," he agreed.

"What do you supposed Mr. Tiny is going to do to Odd?" she asked.

"I don't know," Jeremy sighed.

The conversation paused at that for a moment until Aelita said, "You feel bad, don’t you?”

Sitting up away from the wall, Jeremy said, “I don’t know…”

Aelita stared at him, unsure of what to say. She did not have a chance to say anything anyway, however, as they heard familiar voices and laughter coming from the hallway. There was then a bang and laughter from Ulrich.

“What the hell happened?” came Yumi’s muffled voice.

“I fell,” came Odd’s whiny and even more muffled voice.

Aelita and Jeremie leaped off the bed and opened the door. By the time they got outside into the hallway, the three friends had shut the door to Ulrich and Odd’s room.

Jeremie knocked on the door quietly and hurried in as soon and Ulrich opened it. They did not want to get scolded by Jim.

“What is going on?” Jeremie asked, looking at Odd lying on his bed.

“I got a little too…meh,” Odd waved his hand around in the air.

“I…don’t know what that means,” Jeremie said.

Aelita smirked and sat on the floor next to Odd’s bed.

Odd reached over and patted her on the head.

“You’ve got soft hair,” he said simply.

Aelita put a hand to her mouth to muffle her laughter.

“Go to sleep, you drunken, high, bastard,” Ulrich said.

Jeremie felt the urge to scold rising, but he realized it would just fall on deaf ears. Aelita and Yumi could not help but laugh at Ulrich’s comment and Odd throwing his shoe at his roommate.

* * *

* * *

 


	7. Chapter 7

"When do you think…?"

"Don't know…"

"He's a really sound sleeper…"

"I know right…hard to get up like every morning…"

"…eally?"

"…eah…like a drama queen in the morning, I'm telling you…"

Odd could hear hushed voices along with some laughter before he cracked open his eyes. He immediately regretted the action as the bright light of the day blinded him. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands as he sat up.

“Hey, look who’s awake,” Aelita said with a smile.

Removing his hands from his eyes, Odd looked over and saw a mug of coffee on the night stand. The steam indicated it had just been placed there.

"See? I told you the smell of coffee would wake him up," Ulrich smirked from his spot on the floor.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Yumi said.

She received a mumbled good morning in return before he squinted across the room, trying to see the time.

"What time is it?" he asked in a tired, raspy voice.

"Ten o’clock," Jeremie answered from his spot on the desk chair. "That coffee is yours by the way."

Odd looked at the mug but made no move for it. He noticed that his friends were watching him and the more they watched the more uncomfortable he felt.

"What?" he snapped.

Ulrich held up his hands in a surrendering way, "Nothing, nothing."

Odd slowly got out of bed and shuffled across the room and went to find a change a clothes. It was not until he noticed the sweatpants that he had slept in the night before hanging on the back of the chair Jeremy was sitting in.

"Dude, why did I not change last night?" he asked, one eye closed as they continued to process the brightness flooding in from the window.

"Well, basically…you were wasted and high out of your mind last night," Jeremie answered.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” Odd mumbled. “So, when did I get back?”

"Well, Ulrich and I helped you back here around nine-thirty," Yumi said.

“Isn’t that your curfew?”

"Yeah, well…I asked my parents if I could have extra time. I wanted to help keep an eye on you so…" she answered. “Regardless to say, they weren’t happy with my request but…”

"Shit…" he muttered. “I'm sorry guys."

"No worries," Aelita said. "It was pretty funny actually.”

“Funny, huh?” Odd asked, unconvinced.

Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other and started laughing.

Odd paused with a hair brush part way up to his head.

“What?”

Aelita smiled and said, “You were so giggly.”

At that, Ulrich and Yumi began laughing more.

Odd looked over at them with a confused look and shook his head as he picked up his coffee and opened the door.

“I’m going to try my best to not remember any of that,” Odd said before leaving the room.

* * *

 

After showering, he was dressed in red unfitting skinny jeans and a purple stud belt. He quickly pulled the white t-shirt over his head. He was wearing his tattered black and red shoes that he had worn on the first day of school.

In the reflection of the mirror, he noticed someone staring at him. He was a slouching kid by the name of Nicholas. Odd looked away from the awkward eye contact and down at the sink.

Odd forgot about Nicholas and began thinking about how he was supposed to meet his parole officer the night before. He closed his eyes in frustration as his hands clenched hard on the counter. Leave it to him to screw up yet again. After all, it was one of the things he was best at.

"Shit…" he breathed in anger.

Knowing Mr. Tiny, there was probably a huge punishment waiting for him.

_Two years prior_

_"No."_

_"No?" the officer asked with a cocked brow as he sat on the sofa in a small, shabby living room._

_The air smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. The cigarette between the woman’s fingers was only contributing to the scent. She took a drag before she retorted._

_"Yeah, no. I refuse to go anywhere," the purple-haired woman said, smoke billowing out of her mouth._

_"I'm afraid you have no choice, ma’am. It's for the best after all," the other officer said, coming to his fellow officer's aid. “It’s for your own good as well as your son’s.”_

_“Best interest, huh? You don’t know what the hell our best interest is, so why don’t you take your flashy badges and get the fuck out,” she snapped._

_Paul Richardson, the one who had just stepped up did not back down. He also did not hold any type of malice toward her. On the contrary, he felt bad for her and her son. As soon as he pulled up to the slightly run-down house he had a feeling this would not be an easy task._

_The woman’s hair was put up in was a disheveled bun with a pink bandana on top. The baggy sweatpants and t-shirt she wore made her skinny frame look even smaller than it already was._

_“Please, miss,” Richardson said. “We just want to help. If you don’t think you need help with your…problems…then at least open your eyes enough to see that your son needs help.”_

_The woman was not looking at either of the officers. “Is it such a crime that he stays and we care for each other?” she said in a quiet voice._

_“I know this may sound rude, but I’m more than positive that your son is caring for you more than you are for him,” Richardson responded._

_The woman looked like she was going to lash out but a voice interrupted._

_"I'll just end of finding my way back. You know that right?" Odd said from the stairs._

_His head was rested on his arms as he stared down at the officers. Richardson sighed, not liking where the conversation was heading._

_"Alright, here's how it's going to go down…" Herrick said seriously_. _"If you two don't cooperate, then we're just going to have to make you leave by force. Whether it comes to either leading you out pleasantly…" he then strolled over to the boy and leaned down so if face was up close to his. "…or dragging you out kicking and screaming. Take your pick."_

_Odd continued glaring at the officer, appearing to not even be considering backing down._

_Herrick smirked and reached for his handcuffs._

_“Very well then.”_

_Herrick spun Odd around and slammed him against the wall. Odd felt his wrists being tightly handcuffed._

_Richardson was not wanting it to come to this, but at the way the woman swung at him, he knew he had no other choice. He handcuffed the shaggy woman, ignoring her shrieks._

_“Get the fuck off of me, asshole!” Odd said angrily as he was forced out of the house._

_Before he knew it, he was in the back of the police car. He could still hear the shrieks of his mother as she was shoved into the other officer’s car._

_"Guess we went with the kicking and screaming huh?" Herrick remarked, finding humor in the whole situation._

"Odd?"

Hearing a voice from beside him, he snapped back to the present and opened his eyes.

Odd turned his head to see William Dunbar.

"Um, yeah what’s up?"

"Are you okay? You sort of blanked out. I've said your name like eight times."

"Oh, yeah,” Odd reassured him. “Just tired is all.”

"Well, alright then. Do you have the notes for Mrs. Hertz's class?" he asked.

"You're not in that class. Why do you need them?"

"Oh! Right, yeah, Nicholas wanted to know," William answered simply.

"Who?"

"Nicholas Poliakoff. He’s over there," William stuck his thumb over his shoulder at the boy who had been staring at him before.

"Why doesn't he just ask me himself?" Odd asked, looking back at William.

William shrugged.

Odd raised an eyebrow and said, "What does he think I'm going to do, bite him?"

William shrugged again, “Probably.”

* * *

After lunch, Yumi and Aelita went off to hang out with each other while Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremie sat on some bleachers.

"You guys haven't gotten very far on those," Jeremie pointed to the two math work sheets sitting in front of Ulrich and Odd.

This snapped them out of their talking. They had abandoned their homework half an hour ago, having the inability to stay focused on something so boring for too long.

"Hm?" they both asked in unison.

Jeremie rolled his eyes. "Honestly, guys, don't you think you should both be working on Math?”

They both mumbled something that Jeremie did not understand and he just narrowed his eyes at them.

“You’re both hopeless…”

"Hey, Ulrich!" someone called.

All three of them looked up to see some boys walking over to them. The boy who had called out had a soccer ball underneath his arm.

"You want to play some soccer?" he asked as they stopped in front of them.

"Sure," Ulrich said before looking back at Odd and Jeremie. "Either of you want to play?"

Jeremie shook his head and continued with his math homework. Odd shook his head as well.

"Ah, come on!” the boy said. “You seem like you would be good at sports or some sort of physical exercise.”

“I’ve never really played on a legit sports team or anything, so…" Odd explained.

"I don't care. Come on!" he encouraged.

Odd looked uncertain, but stood up and walked with them out to the field.

"So, you know the rules of the game?" the kid asked as they walked toward the middle of the field.

Odd nodded in response and the boy grinned, "Awesome! And what’s your name again? Odd right?”

Odd was rather surprised he did not make any type of comment toward his strange name. He nodded again.

"Cool. I'm Theo. Theo Gauthier,” he said before they got to the other players. "Alright guys! New player! This is Odd Della Robbia.”

They all greeted him.

"Alright, now let’s pick our teams. Who wants to be captain?" Theo said before crossing his arms and smirking. “I’m already assuming role as one."

There were scoffs as a boy with black spiky hair shouted, “Call it!”

“Alright, Lance, but I pick first,” Theo said.

Lance stretched out his arm and bowed his head, “Be my guest, Theodore.”

Theo shot him a look before pointing at Ulrich.

"Ulrich. Lancelot?”

“I know how to pick teams, Theo, I’m not stupid,” Lance said.

One of the boys said “doubtful” causing laughter. Lance narrowed his eyes before placing his hand on his chin in thought.

“Hm, let me see…:

“Today, Lance,” Theo said.

“I’m thinking! This is a big decision.

Odd was standing with his hands in his pockets watching the two boys bicker when a voice sounded next to him.

“So, Odd, huh? I’m Thomas Jolivet,” he said.

The fellow student was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans and a friendly grin on his face.

“Hello,” Odd responded.

“Where are you from?”

Odd did not answer for a moment before responding, “A few places.”

Thomas was going to say something else but was interrupted as Lance appeared in front of them. He had his hand on his chin once again and was looking Odd up and down.

Odd crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes as Lance continued circling him. He saw Ulrich cover his mouth with the back of his hand as he started laughing at the expression on Odd’s face.

Suddenly, Odd felt Lance begin poking him on the arm.

“Would ya knock it off?” Odd snapped, jerking away from him.

Much to Odd’s surprise, Lance’s face broke into a wide smile and he began laughing.

“I like you! You’re in!”

"So glad I passed the test…" he muttered as he began following the captain.

Jeremie was paying no mind to the soccer game occurring on the field in front of him. He had just finished his math homework and was reading from his science textbook.

"I didn't know that Odd played soccer.”

Jeremie looked up and saw Yumi and Aelita standing on the bleachers next to where he was sitting.

“Wonder if he will try out for the team with Ulrich?” Yumi continued.

“When did you guys get here?” Jeremie asked.

“A couple minutes ago,” Aelita responded.

“You were so involved with reading your oh-so-fascinating book we didn’t bother saying hey,” Yumi said.

Jeremie looked at her pointedly and closed the textbook.

“Finally done doing horribly boring things, Einstein?” Odd asked as he walked up to the bleachers, followed by Ulrich; both still breathing hard from the game.

Yumi gestured to a group of five water bottles that she had bought from the drink machine. Ulrich and Odd gave appreciative glances before chugging.

 “I missed who got the winning goal! Who won?” Aelita asked.

Odd lifted a finger and stuck out his tongue, his tongue ring glinting in the sunlight. Ulrich rolled his eyes.

“Lucky shot.”

Odd smiled at him and said, "Keep telling yourself that, good buddy."

"I don't even understand how you could have played in those shoes. They're falling apart!" Ulrich said as though it would justify anything.

Odd looked down at his tattered shoes and said, “Yeah. I don't know either, but they work."

“DELLA ROBBIA!”

Odd dropped his water bottle in surprise and the liquid splashed onto the ground.

"Oh shit muffins…" Odd said as his eyes got wide.

Yumi, Ulrich, and Aelita flinched at the look of terrifying anger on Mr. Tiny’s face as he marched over toward them. Jeremie merely blinked.

"Oh shit muffins is right," the large man spat as he stopped in front of him. “Where the hell were you last night?”

Odd rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Oh, um, yeah…the funny thing is… I was actually at the school the whole time…I just…forgot?"

Mr. Tiny continued staring down at him.

Odd did not answer. He was wringing his hands at his side anxiously. The others were looking at the two back and forth, waiting for something to happen.

“BULLSHIT,” Mr. Tiny shouted suddenly, causing them all to jump. “YOU WERE AT A PARTY WHEN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON YOUR VERY BEST BEHAVIOR. DO WE REALLY NEED TO GO BACK TO WEARING AN ANKLE BRACELET?”

The truth was, Odd did not want to have that bracelet locked onto his leg again. He remembered clearly how it made him feel as though he were on a leash. It was quite confining, and not to mention uncomfortable.

Odd, however, did not answer. Instead, he continued staring at the giant man leaning over him. He looked around awkwardly, there were people staring at the spectacle.

“WELL?”

“No,” Odd finally answered.

“Then you need to get yourself straightened the hell out, because no one else can do it but you,” Mr. Tiny growled. “You want to be rid of me? Then start behaving. _Now_.”

Yumi, Ulrich, Aelita, and Jeremie had to lean forward to hear what the parole officer was saying. They did not even realize that they were visibly eavesdropping until Mr. Tiny straightened up and looked over at them. The group immediately leaned back and acted as though they had not been listening.

Mr. Tiny adjusted his tie, bid a growling farewell to Odd and a nod at the others. Aelita watched the large man walk away until she felt someone sit down beside her.

"Well, I think it's a safe bet that you won't go out on the town like that again," Jeremie said.

Odd shot him a glare before standing up and putting his hands in his pockets.

“Odd, are you okay?” Yumi asked quietly.

“I’m going up to the room. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Odd…” Yumi started again.

“Later,” Odd said before walking toward the dorms.

“Odd, wait!” Aelita called out.

Just as she started after him, she felt a hand on her arm.

“Ulrich, what-“

“Just let him be alone for a bit,” Ulrich said. “He’ll snap out of it.”

“But…okay…” Aelita looked at her friend who was getting further and further away.

“Don’t worry. Sometimes he just needs his space,” Ulrich said, shrugging.

“I wish he would tell us more,” Aelita said.

“What do you mean?” Yumi asked.

“He’s a close friend of ours now right? So you’d think we would know a lot more about him.”

Jeremie bit back a snide comment that would have involved something along the lines of Odd being as stubborn as a mule. He looked at the ground, his eyebrows furrowed.

“In time he’ll open up more,” Yumi said.

Aelita sighed.

“Maybe.”

* * *

Odd was lying on his bed listening to music when he heard two knocks on the door.

“Yo,” he said, not opening his eyes as the door opened.

“We missed you at dinner,” Yumi said as she walked in, followed by Aelita, Jeremie, and Ulrich.

“I grabbed something and brought it up to the room,” Odd replied.

There was about a minute of silence as everyone sat down and listened to the music.

“Odd, can we ask you something?” Aelita asked.

“Sure, princess. Shoot.”

“Why do you have a parole officer in the first place?”

Odd’s eyes shot open and he paused his music with a remote before sitting up.

“The same reason anyone has one,” he replied simply. “For misbehaving.”

“Yeah, but we want to know more about you. Also, just in case there’s any way we can help-“

"I don't like to talk about this kind of stuff…" he cut her off.

Ulrich then came over and sat next to him.

"You know, it's not good to keep things all bottled up."

"What are you, a therapist?" Odd asked with a smirk.

Ulrich shrugged.

"Maybe I am now."

Odd then sighed. "Let’s just say I’ve broken the law too many times, or should I say, gotten caught too many times.”

“What do your parents say about all of this?” Jeremie asked. “They can’t be too happy about all the trouble you get yourself into.”

Odd was silent. Instead, he stood up and went over to grab his toothbrush and other items to get ready for bed.

“Is that the end of our conversation?” Jeremie asked.

“Yep,” Odd replied.

“Do you and your parents not get along or something?” Yumi asked.

"You could say that,” Odd replied, flinging a pair of sweatpants over his shoulder. He then went over to the door and opened it. “I don't feel like talking about this anymore. Just drop it."

“No need to get snippy,” Jeremie said.

“I’ll get as damn snippy as I fucking _want_ to, _Jeremie_ ,” Odd snapped, shocking everyone with his aggressive tone.

The door slammed shut and everyone was silent. Jeremie looked down at the floor. He had known Odd was getting annoyed and that he should not have instigated anymore.

“He didn’t mean it, Jer,” Ulrich comforted. “We all just kind of…came at him and he probably felt cornered.”

A few minutes later, Odd came back into the room with a much gentler nature about him. He looked down at the floor.

“I’m sorry, Jeremie,” Odd said softly. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I shouldn’t snap at any of you guys like that. You don’t deserve it.”

“It’s okay,” Jeremie said, actually slightly grinning.

He had never seen him look so dumpy; like a sad puppy who had misbehaved.

“Well, we shouldn’t have cornered you like that,” Yumi said apologetically.

“No, you guys are right,” Odd said as he tossed clothes into a hamper. “You should know more about me. It’s just…not…”

“Your favorite subject?” Ulrich finished.

“Basically,” Odd said, sitting on his bed next to Ulrich.

“Well, we can start off with you telling us how you got here, and from where,” Aelita offered, scooting closer to him from her spot on the floor.

Odd smirked at her a bit, “Don’t look so eager, princess.”

She smiled in response and as a way of comfort to let him know that whatever he was about to tell them was okay.

Odd sighed. “I’m from Sevran, Paris. I came to Kadic pretty much directly from temporary foster home that didn’t work out.”

“Foster home? What about your parents?” Aelita asked quietly.

Odd looked at the ceiling for a moment and shook his leg out of nerves. His fingers fiddled with the covers on his bed absentmindedly before answering.

“My mom was taken to a Drug Rehabilitation Facility. My dad…I don’t know where he is. I haven’t seen him since I was five.”

There was a small silence. Odd began fidgeting with the covers again and Aelita took that as her time to speak up.

"I'm sorry Odd…we didn't realize…we didn't know that-" Aelita started to say.

“Yeah, we didn’t know…” Yumi said gently.

“Don’t sweat it,” Odd said as he stood up. “I forgot something in the shower rooms so I’ll just…”

Before he could finish talking, he walked out of the room again.

They all knew he had not forgotten anything. He just wanted to get out of the room. They felt guilty about making him feel like that, but they also knew that it was necessary. They all looked at each other in silence.

They knew there was still more to Odd than he was telling.

* * *

* * *

 


	8. Chapter 8

"Now, what are the three different types of rocks?" Mrs. Hertz asked with her back to the class.

There was silence aside from the squeaky scratching of the chalk on the board as she wrote.

Being a Monday morning, nearly all of the students did not feel like answering. Only three had their hands raised: Jeremie, Aelita, and Herve Pichon. Odd and Ulrich sat behind their two friends. Ulrich was staring out the window while Odd had his head on the desk and was sleeping.

Mrs. Hertz turned around and set eyes on Herve, who kept shooting competitive glares at Jeremie. Mrs. Hertz lifted up her finger to point at one of the three who had their hands raised when two other students caught her eye.

"Ulrich? Do you know the answer?" Mrs. Hertz asked, but she did not get a response.

"Ulrich!"

The said boy snapped out of his daydream and looked at Mrs. Hertz, who held an expression of annoyance.

"Hm? What?" he asked.

Having lost focus since the beginning of class, Ulrich had no clue what she was talking about.

"Do you know the answer to my question? What are the three different types of rocks?”

"Um…" Ulrich felt like he had learned this already, but had completely forgotten. "Judicial a-and, uh-"

The class laughed at his answer and Mrs. Hertz sighed. Herve snickered loudly and Jeremie shot him a look.

"I believe you're getting your classes mixed up, Mr. Stern," she said condescendingly. "Let's see if Odd can help you. Odd?"

Mrs. Hertz knew that he was not going to respond, for it was quite obvious that he was asleep. His head was resting on his arms.

Ulrich nudged his friend slightly as Mrs. Hertz picked up a ruler and started marching toward them like a drill sergeant.

Mrs. Hertz slapped the ruler on the table right by Odd's head, immediately jolting him awake. He gave a startled cry and fell off his stool and onto the floor, causing the class to erupt into laughter even harder than before.

"Mr. Della Robbia, need I remind you that this is not a time for _sleeping?_ I suggest you _and_ Mr. Stern pay attention."

Odd glared at her and sat back down with his chin in his hand, “Whatever.”

"And the ‘whatever’ attitude won't help either. If you want to succeed in this class then I suggest you start paying attention to what I’m teaching and stop looking at the back of your eyelids," she reprimanded. “I have a blow horn in my closet along with a megaphone. I don't think you want me to use them to wake you up next time do you?"

When the bell rang twenty minutes later, the students began filing out of the classroom. Odd, Ulrich, Jeremie, and Aelita were among the last to leave, but just as they were about to walk out Mrs. Hertz stopped them.

"Not so fast, Stern and Della Robbia," she said, not looking up from what she was writing at her desk. “Jeremie, Aelita, you may go.”

The two looked at their friends before leaving.

“Yes, Mrs. Hertz?” Ulrich asked as they walked up to her desk.

"Your grades are not faring well, boys," she said, looking pointedly up at them over her glasses. "Ulrich, your grade is a D. Now, I've sent an e-mail to your father regarding this."

Ulrich sighed in exasperation. "What did you tell him?"

"The truth," she said simply. "That you've been dozing off and day dreaming in class. I suggest you snap out of it or you might just fail the course. You, Mr. Della Robbia, your grade is an F.”

“Alright,” Odd said, not showing a single ounce of concern in his voice.

Mrs. Hertz stared at him for a few seconds. Odd did not bring his eyes away from hers.

"You better wake up Mr. Della Robbia or you're going to fail as well," She said to him. “You both can go.”

“Well that was fun,” Odd said when they were outside of the classroom.

“I am so not looking forward to hearing from my dad about this,” Ulrich groaned.

“Sorry, good buddy,” Odd said as he put his hands behind his head.

“You wouldn’t have to stay after class if you tried harder,” Jeremie said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

"Where'd you come from?" Ulrich asked.

“Your dreams,” Aelita said jokingly, receiving a small noogie from Odd.

“So how bad are they?” Jeremie asked.

“What?” Odd asked.

Jeremie sighed, exasperated, “Your grades!”

“Oh…yeah, not good. I have an F,” Odd replied.

“And I have a D,” Ulrich chimed in forlornly.

“A-a D and an F?” Jeremie sounded so distraught.

Odd could only assume that if Jeremie ever received a low grade like that he would cry. Being the Einstein that he was, however, he doubted that it ever happened.

“How could you be okay with this?” he asked.

Ulrich looked at the ground while Odd shrugged.

“You act like you don’t even care about your education,” Jeremie said.

Odd adjusted the strap on his book bag and said, “Yeah, ‘cause I don’t.”

* * *

 

“How can he say that?” Jeremie asked Ulrich a few minutes later while they were waiting for Rosa the lunch lady to put food on their trays.

Ulrich shrugged in response.

“You care don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Ulrich said, the image of his father’s angry face flashing in his brain.

“Why the long faces, sweeties?” Rosa asked as she dumped mashed potatoes on their trays.

“Just grades, Rosa,” Ulrich responded.

“Not mine,” Jeremie corrected pointedly.

“Fine, _my_ grades,” he corrected, rolling his eyes.

As the two walked toward their regular lunch table, Jeremie noticed Odd’s solemn expression as he looked out the window and absentmindedly poked food around on his tray.

Maybe he cared more than Jeremie had originally thought?

Odd did not even notice when his friends sat down. His mind was in a different place at a different time.

_ Bordeaux, France, One year prior _

_“That’s the best grade you’ve gotten so far,” the teacher said with a bright smile as she placed Odd’s test in front of him._

_It was an eighty-five percent. Odd was pleased that the studying he had done paid off._

_This was the first time he had actually tried while off with a foster parent. In fact, it was the first time he had tried in a long time._

_The only reward that he received for good grades was the letter, however, due to the fact that the woman he was staying with had no use for his education._

_"What are you doing?" Agnes demanded that night when she walked into the kitchen and saw him doing homework_.

_Agnes was a black-haired woman who wore clothes that were either too large or too small for her skinny frame. She always had a spark of rage in her eyes when she looked at him. Odd had wondered for the months he spent with her just why she had signed up for such a program if it was just going to infuriate her to have foster kids in her home._

_“Homework,” Odd answered simply._

_“I thought I told you to go get groceries,” she snapped._

_Odd pointed at the refrigerator in response before he continued writing._

_Agnes scoffed before she walked over and opened the door._

_“You got skim milk,” she said in a monotone voice._

_“And?”_

_“I only drink 1%. What are you, fucking stupid or something?”_

_Odd closed his eyes and took a breath._

_“Hello? I asked you a question,” she demanded, stomping over to him._

_Odd fought to keep his voice calm, “No.”_

_There were a few seconds of silence before she grabbed his textbook off the table and whacked him hard on the side of the head._

_She grabbed him by the arm and practically dragged him over to the door._

_“Go back out and grab the right damn thing, dumbass!” she screeched at him before slamming the door in his face._

_A bruise had already started to form next to his eye._

_It would not be the first time he would have to go to school with visible bruises._

Odd felt a poke on the side of his head and he snapped out of his thoughts. He looked at Yumi who still had her finger up in a poking motion.

“Don’t worry guys, he’s alive,” Yumi said.

Odd smirked.

“You’re really good at zoning out,” Jeremie said. “Too bad you’re better at that than at paying attention in class.”

Odd mimicked Jeremie’s voice in a comical, squeaky way.

“I don’t sound like that.”

“I beg to differ,” Odd replied.

“Anyway…I’ve decided we are going to study together for at least two hours a day,” Jeremie said, stabbing a piece of broccoli with his fork.

“Who’s we?” Odd asked.

“You, me, and Ulrich,” Jeremie said. “And Yumi and Aelita if they want to join as well, but they don’t need help like you two.”

“Ew,” Odd replied. “Not interested.”

“You aren’t interested in a lot of things,” Jeremie narrowed his eyes.

“Not true,” Odd said, pointing his fork at him. “I am very interested in music and naps.”

“Too bad neither of those are what you should be focusing-“

As Jeremie was talking, Odd scooted his tray away, put his hood on, pulled the strings, and put his face on the table.

Jeremie immediately stopped talking and stared at him.

“I think you broke him,” Ulrich said.

“You’ve forced me into a hibernated sleep, Jer,” Odd said, his voice muffled. “I am no longer listening to you.”

Jeremie slapped his hand to his face as the others laughed.

* * *

* * *

 


	9. Chapter 9

"It's nearing the end of the semester, Odd," Jeremie said.

“I know that, it’s just…do we _have_ to keep studying?” he replied as he clicked buttons on the laptop.

"Why stop?" Aelita asked from beside Jeremie.

"Because I'm tired,” Odd pouted, the ring in his lip catching a glint from the library lights.

The doors to the library made a small squeak as Yumi and Ulrich entered. Ulrich sat to the left of Odd and looked at the laptop screen.

“You’ll get an awesome grade in Space Invaders class,” Ulrich said.

“Space Invaders?” Jeremie’s head shot up. “You’re supposed to be studying!”

“Thanks, Ulrich. You got me in trouble with mom,” Odd said, making Yumi laugh.

Jeremie continued staring at Odd with a stern look until Odd sighed and clicked out of the game tab.

“Oh, good,” Ulrich said with a smirk. “Now he can continue talking to Samantha.”

Odd put a hand on the side of Ulrich’s face and pushed him away from his laptop screen.

The sound of another girl’s name immediately caught Aelita’s attention.

“Who’s Samantha?”

"Just a friend from back home,” Odd answered simply as he typed something else.

“A, uh…a girlfriend?” Aelita asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Yumi and Ulrich looked at her curiously.

“If you mean a friend who’s a girl, then yes,” Odd answered before closing the laptop.

“Speaking of friends and girlfriends, any interest in anyone yet?” Yumi asked with a grin.

“ _What?_ ” this question caught Odd completely off guard.

“I have heard from a little birdie that a couple of people have crushes on you,” Yumi said slyly.

Jeremie snapped his head up, bewildered, “What? Who the heck are you talking about?”

“Don’t sound so surprised, Jer,” Odd glowered.

Jeremie smirked at him from over his laptop before saying, “No doubt that this Samantha girl is pretty though.”

Odd’s eyes widened, “How the hell did you find her so fast?”

“Your profile page, went to your friends, typed her name, and bam. Found her,” Jeremie replied, not looking up at him.

Aelita glanced over at the screen, tuning out the conversation. In some pictures she could see a beautiful blonde girl who could possibly be a model one day; another with the said Samantha. There was a picture of Odd giving a piggy back ride to a girl with a bright red mohawk. Of course there were pictures of Odd with boys, but every time a picture with him and a girl popped up on the screen Aelita clenched her teeth a bit.

Odd stood up from the table and put his black jacket on, snapping her attention away from the screen.

“Well boys and girls, I’m going to head off. Now that my homework’s done I need to get going.”

“Where?” Aelita asked.

“I, uh…have plans,” he responded as he zipped up his dark purple jacket. “It’s just a huge party going on downtown at a venue.”

“And you’ll be out how late, young man?” Ulrich asked jokingly.

Odd rolled his eyes and said, “You guys can come if you want. I’m not planning on staying out all that late.”

“Wait really?” Yumi asked.

“Yeah, we have class tomorrow so-“

“Not that,” Yumi interrupted.

“You care about class?” Jeremie spoke up simultaneously.

Odd looked at both of them, not sure of who to answer, but Yumi continued, “I meant, you’re inviting us?”

“Well, yeah. You guys are my friends. The only reason I haven’t invited you out before is because I didn’t think you would want to go,” he shrugged. “You…want to go?”

“Well…”

“Heck yeah!” Aelita leaped up.

Yumi and Jeremie looked at her in shock.

“What?” she said. “It sounds fun. We haven’t really done anything exciting for a while _and_ we can meet some of Odd’s other friends like that…that Samantha girl.”

Yumi raised her eyebrow at her and made a questioning noise, Aelita sent back a small, quick glare.

“So, what? We’re just going to leave school past curfew and all of us sneak back in at an even later hour?” Jeremie stated more than asked.

“I’m down,” Ulrich said simply, making Jeremie smack a hand to his face.

“Alright, me too,” Yumi said. “I’ll just tell my parents I’m staying with Aelita tonight.”

For a second, Aelita thought about saying 'nevermind' to the whole idea, but once she looked at Odd and envisioned those girls all over him she felt a surge of jealousy go through her. He caught her eye and smiled at her, giving her all the confidence she needed to continue with the party plans.

“So…Einstein?” Odd said, slyly making his way closer to him.

“What?” he snapped.

“So…?”

“Wanna come to the party?” Yumi asked just as slyly.

“No,” Jeremie said seriously.

“Come on,” Odd coaxed.

“No.”

“Do it.”

“No.”

“Do it.”

“No.”

“Come on, please?” Aelita urged.

“Alright, fine,” Jeremie said with aggravation as he closed his laptop shut with a ‘snap.’

“Sure, listen to her,” Odd teased.

Jeremie blushed and continued packing stuff into his bookbag. Normally, a comment like that would have made Aelita blush as well, but at that moment she felt nothing of the sort.

“Alright. It’s a plan!” she said too loudly, making the librarian shush her.

Odd laughed and said, “Alright party animal, I have to make a couple calls. I’ll see you and Yumi tonight.”

Aelita waved, the smile not falling from her face. Yumi stared at her knowingly, but Aelita did not notice.

It was definitely going to be an interesting night.

* * *

* * *

 


	10. Chapter 10

Aelita raided her drawers and closet as the Subdigitals played from the small speaker on her desk. She could not figure out what to wear because she had never been to a party like this before. She had been to get-togethers that could be classified as a party, but she had a feeling this was going to be way different. It was going to throw her completely out of her element, and she had a feeling Yumi, Ulrich, and Jeremie felt the same way.

She pulled a white sequin shirt from her closet. There were glittery tassels hanging down the front.

After putting it on, Aelita spun around in the reflection of the mirror and did a small, humorous jig before deciding that it was indeed the shirt for the night.

Aelita slipped into a denim skirt that sat perfectly on her hips.

When there was a knock on her door, she called, “Come in!”

Yumi walked in then, carrying clothes and a make-up bag.

"I brought makeup," she said, placing the stuff on the bed.

When Yumi noticed Aelita’s outfit, she smiled and said, “Well aren’t you just the cat’s meow?”

Aelita laughed and said, “What are we, in the 1920’s?”

Yumi shrugged and said, “Now, I know you usually only put on mascara, but I would love to try out some liquid eyeliner on you.”

“I just don’t think I’m an eyeliner kind of gal,” Aelita responded.

“Tonight you are,” Yumi responded with a grin.

**…**

Odd slipped the silver-studded belt through the loops in his black jeans. A silver chain hung from the left side and draped half way down his thigh. He then proceeded to button the purple and black plaid shirt over top of the black band t-shirt he was wearing.

Ulrich had just finished getting dressed. He put on a black Kadic Academy jacket over his olive green shirt.

"Guys, I look ridiculous,” a muffled voice said from the closet.

"Jeremie…" Odd said as he crossed his arms and leaned against one of the closet doors. "You're in a dark closet, you don't even know what you look like."

"I don't care. I can feel it," he replied.

“I’m going to open the door now, Jer,” Odd said.

"No!"

Odd rolled and eyes and said, “One.”

"Oh, please. Do you really think that childish tactic will work on me?" Jeremie scoffed.

“Two,” Odd continued, speaking as though he were a parent warning a child.

"I'm not coming out. And counting numbers won't do anything."

"Three. Counting to five, Jer!" he warned.

"I don't care!" Jeremie sang back from inside the closet.

"Four."

"This is ridiculous…"

"Four and a half."

"I'm happy you can count, Odd. Really, I'm so proud of you. The teachers must be so impressed with your counting ability.”

"Fi-"

"Alright, alright!”

There was a small pause as Jeremie fixed the clothes he was wearing. He was in the process of changing out of them when Odd began counting.

When he emerged, Odd held out his hands and said, “Ha! Ta-da! Look at you, Jer!”

"I'm not wearing this," he said, crossing his arms.

Jeremie borrowed clothes from Odd, which, at first, he believed was a completely ridiculous thing to do. He wore a black band sweatshirt, and a maroon beanie on his head. He insisted on wearing his own pants, so he went with khaki shorts. Odd had tossed a red and black studded belt into the closet before he could protest, and now it sat on his waist.

“Why? You’ll fit right in,” Odd said.

“Tell me, do all of your friends wear things that make them look nefarious or slightly homeless?”

There was a moment of silence before Odd shrugged and said, “Ya lost me at nefarious. I don’t know what that means.”

Jeremie sighed.

“Don’t worry, Jeremie,” Ulrich said. “It’ll be fine.”

“I don’t understand what was wrong with what I usually wear,” Jeremie said.

“Because, for some people there, that would be like putting a big neon sign over your head saying ‘beat me up, I’m an Einstein,’” Odd said, putting up his hands up as though that sign was actually overhead.

Jeremie narrowed his eyes and Ulrich let out a laugh.

* * *

Two hours past curfew, Aelita and Yumi ran outside and stood under the shadows of a large tree. It was the meeting place they had all decided on, but Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremie were not there.

"You don't think they got caught do you?" Aelita asked.

"I don't know," Yumi answered, checking her phone for the time.

Aelita and Yumi were running ten minutes late, so the fact that the other three were not there yet made them nervous.

No sooner did their worries really begin did they hear the muffled voices of what could only be Jeremie and Odd bickering.

“Hey,” Ulrich whispered when he saw Aelita and Yumi.

“Hey,” Yumi said. “You guys ready to go?”

“Yep, we just need to-“ Odd started, but froze when they heard voices.

It was the voice of Jim and the school nurse, Yolanda.

 _“Shit,”_ Odd said as the voices got closer.

“Up here!” Yumi whispered frantically, pointing up at the tree.

Aelita grabbed a branch and began climbing up while Yumi kept watch.

"I don't want to flash you…" Aelita whispered before continuing her climb. “Don't look!"

"Alright, alright," the boys said as they covered their eyes.

Jeremie climbed up with some difficulty and sat next to Aelita. Ulrich climbed up with ease, followed by Odd who leaped up and swung into the tree like an orangutan.

The voices got louder as Jim and Yolanda got closer.

Yumi quickly began climbing the tree, but missed her footing halfway up. A warm, slightly sweaty hand grabbed her arm pulled her up.

Breathing hard from nervousness, she turned to Ulrich and whispered, "Thanks."

They sat so still and quiet, worried that they would even breathe too loud. Jim and Yolanda’s voices were so close they could clearly understand what was being said.

"Will she be okay?" Jim asked.

The two adults stopped walking and stood just ten feet away from the tree the group was hiding in.

"Oh yeah. She'll be fine," Yolanda answered. "It wasn’t nearly bad enough to be a concussion. She will probably need some Tylenol or Ibuprofen for headaches for a couple of days though. I do wonder, though, what Sissi was doing up on that ladder in the boy's dormitories anyway…"

The group had to hold in their laughter as best they could, but the image of Sissi falling off of a ladder was about too humorous to handle.

"Well, from the looks of it, she appeared to be trying to put something above a door. A prank of some sorts,” Jim said.

Yolanda sighed and shook her head. She was not a big fan of pranks. There were too many times she had to treat minor injuries from a prank gone wrong…or right, depending on the culprit.

“Do you know whose room it was?”

“Ulrich Stern and Odd Della Robbia’s, I believe.”

Ulrich gave Odd a look, who just shrugged. They had not had too much trouble with Sissi lately; not more trouble than usual at least. Yet, this was the first time she had ever tried to pull a prank on them. It brought much joy to the two boys that she had failed.

"What a move from the principal’s daughter…" Yolanda said, shaking her head again.

"Yeah," Jim looked around and spoke in a low voice, making the gang lean closer so they could hear. "Though I don't like feeding the gossip that goes on amongst the students, she has been known to upset quite a few kids."

Jeremie leaned over too far and almost tipped off his branch. He let out a small cry of fright. Aelita and Odd quickly pulled him back up. Once Jeremie was back on his branch, Odd put a hand over Jeremie’s mouth.

Yolanda and Jim looked around, having heard the noise.

“Probably just some kids from town,” Yolanda said.

"Yeah," Jim said uncertainly. "Maybe."

Jeremie slapped Odd’s hand away and said, “Your hand is all sweaty!”

“Maybe it’s not my hand, maybe it’s your face!”

Jeremie, forgetting that they were in a tree, gave Odd a small shove.

The conversation between the two adults had switched to Jim complaining about Herb and Nicholas slacking off in his class earlier that day.

Ulrich and Yumi rushed forward and put their hands on Odd’s knees to ensure he did not fall.

Odd hung upside down, his legs the only things keeping him in the tree. If Yolanda and Jim were to turn their heads just a tad, they would see him hanging upside down.

“ _Shit, shit, shit._ Jeremie, I’m going to _kill_ you,” Odd whispered angrily.

“Give me your hand!” Ulrich reached down as far as he could, Yumi holding onto him from behind.

Jim and Yolanda heard the small rustle of the leaves, but assumed it to be wind.

Once Odd was safely back in the tree, he, Ulrich, and Yumi gave a sigh of relief.

Odd pointed a warning finger at Jeremie.

" _You_ are on my list,” he said before his face fell and he held his head. “Oh wow, can't see right now. Blood rushing out of my head."

"See you tomorrow, Yolanda,” Jim said, waving as she walked toward her car.

Once Jim and Yolanda were completely out of sight and the coast appeared clear, Jeremie and Aelita dropped out of the tree, followed by Ulrich and Yumi. Odd was the last one to drop down, but ended up falling completely down rather than landing on his feet.

Ulrich began laughing and said, “Nice one! Real smooth, cool guy!”

Odd stood up and said, "Okay, still waiting for all the extra blood to leave my head, so it's not my fault!"

It was not until they were off of school grounds and underneath the glow of the street lights did they take note of each other’s appearances.

“Never seen you wear eyeliner before,” Odd said to Aelita.

Yumi had applied a perfectly even winged eyelinger on Aelita’s eyes. It was a little strange seeing her with such thick make-up, but it seemed suitable for the night and it definitely was not a bad look by any means.

Yumi’s make-up was similar to Aelita’s, minus the lip gloss.

“Yumi made me do it,” she responded. “What about Jeremie though, huh? He looks totally-“

“Ridiculous?” Jeremie said.

“No! Good,” Aelita said.

Jeremie blushed and Odd put his elbow on her shoulder and said, “Who knew that we just needed you in the room when we were getting dressed? We could hardly get him to listen to reason.”

Ulrich was wanting to compliment Yumi, but he found that his mouth was rather dry. He could hardly keep his eyes off of her. She was wearing a red and black checkered skirt with a black belt, matched with a black tank top. She looked absolutely stunning. He was worried he would have to stop boys from crawling all over her without appearing too clingy.

“You know guys, I just thought of something,” Jeremie said. “We don’t have a ride.”

“What do you think I was doing when I kept leaving to talk on the phone earlier, Jer?” Odd asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. Talking to your girlfriend, Samantha?” he retorted.

“No,” Odd said. “Making plans and arrangements. It’s good to have people.”

“People?”

"Yeah, and I got people."

Jeremie crossed his arms over his chest, "Oh really? And who exactly are your people?"

"Don’t worry about it. It's covered. Licked and sealed like an envelope," Odd stated, putting his arms behind his head.

"If you say so…" Jeremie said, rolling his eyes.

“So, Samantha isn’t really your girlfriend right?” Aelita asked.

Odd did not have the chance to answer as a honk sounded from up the street.

About fifteen feet ahead was a black SUV. A male of about twenty-one years of age stepped out onto the sidewalk and waved. He wore a bright blue beanie and wore black dress pants and a white button-up shirt. An undone, black tie hung down his shoulders across his neck.

As they approached the vehicle, the driver held out his arms and said, “There he is! The man of every hour! How have you been?”

“Pretty good,” Odd responded. “Conor, this is Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremie.”

After everyone said hello, Conor said, “Alright, pile on in guys.”

"Nice outfit by the way," Odd said after he got into the passenger seat.

Conor began driving down the street.

“Yeah, I just got off work. It’s not too bad being a valet attendant at the casino. By the way, I have a handle for you under the seat.”

Odd reached underneath his seat and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and lightly punched Conor in the arm, “You are a hero to me.”

Conor stuck his tongue out as he proceeded through a green light.

Odd took a rather large drink out of the bottle and Conor laughed and said, “Goodness knows you don’t need a chaser.”

“Never,” Odd said, voice a tad raw from the bitter beverage.

Ulrich accepted the bottle when Odd handed it over toward the back seat.

Yumi and Aelita took a couple of few sips, only ever having tasted it mixed with something. After Ulrich’s turn, he handed it to Jeremie.

“No, I’m okay,” he said, putting his hand up.

“Don’t be a prude, Einstein,” Odd said, looking through Conor’s music selection.

Odd slipped a disc into the player and Conor slammed his hand on the steering wheel with joy and said, “Alice in Chains’ Facelift album, nice! You read my mind.”

The music began blasting through the speakers so loud that Jeremie could hardly hear himself think. It was then that he realized there was no way he could get through the party sober. Jeremie took the bottle from Ulrich and took a swig, spitting a small bit of it out in a spray. He put his arm up and wiped his mouth off.

By the time they pulled up to the party, the bottle was more than half empty.

Conor parked and grinned at Yumi, Ulrich, Jeremie, and Aelita and said, “Have fun.”

* * *

* * *

 


	11. Chapter 11

Conor had parked the car outside of a three-story, graffiti-ridden brick building.

Odd pulled money out of his pocket and handed it to their driver.

Yumi, Aelita, Ulrich, and Jeremie had a warm feeling when they stepped out of the car. Yumi was the one holding the whiskey bottle, but she refused to drink any more at the moment.

The four friends were all staring up at the building when Odd got out of the car and stood next to them.

“So, what floor is the party on?” Yumi asked.

“All of them,” Odd answered simply.

“Holy shit,” Ulrich said.

Odd laughed and said, “Come on.”

They followed him into a dark alleyway. Odd knocked on a black, metal door and it whooshed open to reveal a pale young man with lime green hair and ginormous gauged holes in his ears.

“Name?”

“Odd…and guests.”

He looked at a list that was taped to the wall and nodded.

“Come on in.”

They had to walk down a short, nearly pitch black hallway before they got to yet another door. Upon opening it, blasting music greeted them.

The entire first floor was a large warehouse-type room with tacky couches littered about. Lights were bouncing off of every surface. The entire room had a blue glow to it. Certain areas of the large room were lit up with black lights.

There were people everywhere ranging from fourteen to twenty-three. People were sitting on coolers, carrying liquor bottles, and drinking beers. A few people were passing around a bag full of cheap wine. There were people on the couches smoking marijuana.

The effects of the loud music and the crazy lights almost made Aelita dizzy. After about a minute, however, she was used to it.

“Alright,” Odd said. “I usually hang out on the top floor, come on.”

Odd led them up a couple flights of stairs until they entered the top floor, which also held extremely loud music and a colorful glow.

Aelita recognized the song as Colette Carr’s “Back It Up.”

She smiled, grabbed Odd’s arm and said, “I love this song!”

“Go dance then, princess,” Odd said, grinning at her as well.

“Come with me?” she said slyly and Odd gave out a loud laugh.

“Right.”

“Come on!” Aelita urged as she grabbed his hand.

She was not sure whether it was the alcohol that had gone to her head that made her do it or the atmospheric vibe. If it was not so dark, her furious blushing would be clearly visible.

He looked at her for a moment, completely caught off guard at the close interaction. He did not have a chance to say anything, however, as a body collided with his.

The culprit gave a loud squeal as she hugged him, surprising all of them.

Aelita’s face fell when she realized it was the girl with the red mohawk from the pictures she saw earlier that day. She had one nose ring hoop through each nostril. The black tank top she wore hardly covered her full chest.

“My honey bunny boo boo boo!”

“She’s drank a lot tonight,” a blonde boy said, appearing to the side of the group.

“Hey, Lucas,” Odd greeted in a strained voice.

“I told her not to get the strawberry lemonade vodka,” Lucas said in a smart voice. “She always drinks way too much of it way too fast.”

The girl was hanging off of Odd like a koala, her legs around his hips rather than on the ground. She pouted when Lucas said this. She put her feet on the floor and put her elbow on Odd’s shoulder and her hand on her hip.

“Mangia merde e muori,” she said.

“Stop teaching her Italian swear words and insults!” Lucas said to Odd, who grinned in response. “Seriously! I can’t understand what she’s saying but I know it’s not good!”

Odd shrugged and said, “Oh, sorry, these are my friends: Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie.”

“Nice to meet ya! I’m Roselin,” the girl said.

Aelita had to fight the scowl that had been covering her face. The girl seemed to be really friendly, so she put a smile on her face.

“Hello,” she said.

“I’m Lucas,” the blonde boy smiled and waved. “I’ve heard about you guys. Ever gone to a party in this area before?”

“No,” Yumi said. “To be honest, my parents always told me to stay away from this area.”

Lucas laughed and said, “Well, I can’t blame anyone for saying that.”

“Great,” Jeremie said worriedly.

“Don’t worry, Jer,” Odd said as he leaned over and pinched his cheek. “We’ll protect you.”

Jeremie swatted Odd’s hand away.

After about two hours of talking, drinking, and having a great time, they were feeling even looser than before. Jeremie no longer seemed as reserved as he usually was. He was even talking to a random girl that walked up to him and called him cute.

“I’ll be right back guys,” Odd said.

A couple of minutes later, Aelita stood up and said she was going to the bathroom.

“I’ll come with you,” Yumi said.

“No, no,” Aelita said. “Stay here. I’ll be fine.”

Aelita had noticed the way Yumi was flirting with Ulrich. Perhaps getting alcohol in their systems would be enough for them to take a decent step toward actually being in a dating relationship. Aelita smiled at her knowingly and winked. Yumi blushed and narrowed her eyes at her, but had a smile on her face.

Aelita hummed teasingly and walked away.

Odd was next to an open window, leaning against the wall with one shoulder and smoking a cigarette. Aelita’s pink hair caught his eye as she made her way toward the bathrooms. He kept an eye on her to be sure no creep came onto her.

It was not too difficult to find the restrooms. It was down a short hallway that was dimly lit. Aelita stumbled a bit as she walked into the small stall.

“I need to cool it on the drinking,” she whispered to herself.

“No you don’t, sweetheart! Keep going!” a drunken female voice said from another stall, making her laugh a bit.

Once she left the bathroom and began walking down the hall back toward the party, a boy stopped her.

“Hey,” he grinned. “I’ve had my eye on you. You’re really cute.”

“Oh,” Aelita said, giving a small smile. “Well, thank you.”

“What’s your name?”

“Aelita,” she replied dismissively yet politely. “I need to be getting back to my friends.

“Come and meet my friends,” the boy stopped her, stroking her hair.

“Maybe later,” Aelita said, beginning to feel truly uncomfortable as he inched closer.

“Come on. At least come drink a little with me.”

“No thank you.”

“Come on, girl. I’m trying to be nice,” he growled, grabbing her wrist.

Odd felt as though Aelita’s bathroom trip was taking unusually long. Right as he was about to check on her, he heard her shouting.

"No! Get off!"

Odd dropped the cigarette and ran toward the restrooms.

“Come on, baby. Don’t be like that,” the boy said, his breath reeking of alcohol.

"Get your hands off of her.”

Aelita was extremely relieved to see it was Odd. His tone was dangerous and his eyes were full of anger.

Odd did not pause in his pursuit even after Aelita was released. He stood in front of her protectively and she let out the breath she had been holding in fear.

“Oh, it’s _you_ ,” the creep spat. “Why don’t you get lost so I can-“

“I don’t think so, Geo,” Odd said. “It would be wise to walk away. _Right now_.”

“Aw, you aren’t going to let me get lucky with your girlfriend?” Geo said in a sing-song tone. “Bad idea to bring a nice piece of ass like her around.”

Odd's hands closed into a tight fist at his sides, causing his knuckles to turn white and crack.

“Shut the fuck up and walk away,” Odd said, even angrier than before. “I’m not saying it again.”

Geo grinned maliciously and began walking forward, Aelita could feel it in the air that a fight was going to break out and she jumped between them.

"Woah! Woah! Hey!" she said, holding out both hands. "Odd, come on. Let’s go.”

Odd did not move at first and Aelita wondered if he had even paid any attention to her. She grabbed his hand and that seemed to snap him out of it enough to follow her.

He kept his intense stare on Geo as he started following Aelita. If looks could kill, Geo would be dead on the floor right then and there.

They went over to the open window. Aelita figured the fresh air would do them both good.

Odd was breathing heavily, trying to calm himself down. Aelita watched him cautiously, her hand still in his.

"Are you okay?" he asked her with concern, though anger still laced his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. "Thanks for helping me back there."

“You shouldn’t have gone anywhere alone,” Odd said, making her worry he was mad at her now. “Not here.”

He suddenly took his hand out of hers and pulled a carton of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket. He put one of the white sticks in his mouth and lit it. Aelita watched him as he blew a billow of smoke out of his mouth; that combined with the angry expression on his face made him resemble a dragon.

“Are you mad at me?” Aelita asked.

Odd’s expression immediately softened.

“No, no, no,” he reassured. “No, I’m not mad at you. Of course not.”

Aelita was relieved.

“You guys seemed to already know each other,” she said.

“Tch, yeah,” Odd scoffed. “Geo and I go way back.”

“You guys don’t like each other?”

“What was your first clue?” he joked in a monotone way.

After that, they did not speak until Odd finished his cigarette. He tossed it out into the street below.

"How about we get back to having fun?" he asked her, putting his hands in his pockets, a smile back on his face.

Aelita grinned in agreement and together they walked toward the spot Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi were sitting.

“Go dance, Einstein. Go dance with her!” Ulrich was urging when Odd and Aelita returned.

“I don’t dance,” Jeremie whined.

The blonde girl that had been talking to him was smiling at him, her arms wrapped around him.

“She does though,” Lucas teased. “What’s that nickname again? Einstein?”

“Einstein,” Jeremie agreed, his words slurring at this point. “Odd came up with the name.”

“Come on, please dance with me?” the blonde girl asked, putting on puppy dog eyes and pouting.

“Fi-fine,” Jeremie sloshed.

As he walked toward the dance floor with the blonde girl, Odd snatched the new bottle of whiskey from his hand and looked at it.

“Where did the old one go?” he asked.

“We drank it,” Yumi responded simply.

Odd looked at them with a surprised expression before shrugging and saying, “Alright.”

Aelita was going to grab the bottle from his hand after he downed about three shots worth. Roselin called out her name, however, waving her own bottle.

Soon, Aelita was bonding with the girl she had just met and drinking the liquor she was offering to her.

Jeremie returned to the couches and collapsed right next to Odd, who had been talking and laughing about something with Ulrich.

They stared at him. He had a lipstick mark on the side of his face and his hair was a tad disheveled.

“Are you okay, good buddy?” Ulrich asked.

Jeremie swung his head drunkenly in their direction.

“I’m dandy.”

Throughout the rest of the party, they met more of Odd’s friends. Most of the time Odd stuck with Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremie, and Aelita. They all drank, talked, and laughed the entire time.

By the end of the night, they were all officially hammered, making walking more difficult.

When they left the party, Conor was just pulling up.

“I call the trunk,” Odd slurred as he raised his hand.

Odd opened the trunk, collapsed onto his back and closed his eyes. Aelita crawled in and laid next to him, but on her stomach. She drunkenly giggled as she poked the side of his face.

He tried to keep a straight face but failed.

They were only five minutes into the ride when Jeremie passed out in the passenger seat. Yumi and Ulrich were laughing about something together. Odd and Aelita were singing along to “American Pie” playing through the car speakers.

* * *

* * *

 


	12. Chapter 12

Sizzling and humming.

That was the first thing Odd heard when he woke up. His eyes cracked open to see sunlight shining through the blinds of a window.

He was lying on his back. He turned his head to get his bearings. Wherever he was smelled funny.

Odd sat up and looked around until his eyes fell on a kitty litter box; obviously that was the culprit of the stench. He held his head when a sharp pang wracked through his skull. Once he opened his eyes again, he looked around the room once more through squinted eyes. He finally realized where he was.

The room had outdated, orange shag carpet. The wallpaper was peeling from the walls. He himself was in an area with two small animal beds, a litter box, and a cat scratcher.

Odd heard a soft ‘meow’ and he turned and looked down to see a fluffy, orange cat. The animal was staring at him with wide, curious eyes; confused as to why Odd was lying in his designated area.

"Sorry Blinky…" he muttered, scratching under the cat’s chin before standing up.

The smell that greeted him upon entering the kitchen made him nauseous.

A man in a robe was humming along to some music and cooking. His hair was long, shaggy, and wild. A black cat was sitting beside him on the counter and hungrily watching him cook.

Odd sat down at the kitchen table.

"You want some breakfast Miss. Sassy?" the man asked.

The tabby cat mewed happily and the man grabbed a blender. He poured milk and a can of tuna inside and began blending them together.

The loud, metallic screeching of the appliance made Odd groan and slam his head on the table. The sound of the blender died away as the man jumped and turned around.

"Ow…" Odd groaned into the table top.

"Oh, woah…hey, man!" the man said, smiling.

“Hey, Leo,” Odd said tiredly, rubbing his eyes but keeping his chin on the table. “What happened last night?”

Leo laughed goofily.

"You were smashed, man. Totally wasted out of your mind."

“Well, I figured that part out already.”

“I can’t supply much more info. for ya, man. I was in the middle of a James Bond marathon with Miss. Sassy and Blinky when you guys showed up," he replied, turning back around.

Odd watched Leo pour the milk and fish mixture into a bowl and scoot it toward the cat. He then poured a cup of coffee.

“Sorry for bothering you. Thanks for letting us stay here,” Odd said, picking his head up and putting it in his hand.

“Don’t worry about it, man,” Leo replied with a wave of his hand. “Didn’t bother me at all. You guys went straight to bed anyway.”

“Well, that’s good. So, how was your movie marathon?”

"It was a good time. Miss. Sassy and Blinky love James Bond," he answered as he brought the coffee over and set it in on the table in front of Odd.

Odd took a drink of the coffee and held it to his nose as he smelt the aroma. It soothed his aching head in a way.

"Where are the others?" Odd asked.

The sound of someone shuffling into the room caught his attention and he turned his head to see Ulrich. His brown hair was a mess and his shirt sleeve was horribly ripped, showing skin.

Ulrich slumped into a seat next to Odd.

"Good morning!" Leo greeted happily, holding up a spatula; the egg draped over it almost made Ulrich gag.

"Mrrh…" Ulrich mumbled.

"Leo, this is Ulrich. Ulrich, this is Leo," Odd introduced tiredly before yawning.

"Nice you meetcha, man!" the hippie greeted as he slapped the egg onto a plate.

Ulrich grumbled something that was not understandable.

It was then that another shuffle was heard. Yumi walked in with her makeup smeared across her face. She took a spot next to Ulrich.

"I feel like shit…" she mumbled in a bit of a scratchy voice as she put her face in her arms

"Good morning!" Leo greeted again, his plate now full of pancakes, eggs, and bacon.

"’Morning…" Yumi said, slowly lifting her face from her arms. "So, guess where I woke up?"

"Hm?" Ulrich and Odd muttered in unison.

"In the bath tub."

“I woke up on some cat beds. I’m also pretty sure I smell like kitty litter.”

"I woke up in a futon bed," Ulrich said.

"Don't brag," Odd replied from beside him as he took another sip of coffee.

Leo set down two more coffee mugs, this time in front of Ulrich and Yumi, who thanked him.

"Um…you got a little something on your glasses,” Odd said over his mug.

"Wha-? Oh!" Leo took his glasses off and wiped them on his robe. "I must have splattered some of Miss. Sassy's food on my face when I blended it all together…"

Ulrich looked over at what the fat cat was eating on the counter. It was a clear bowl so the mushy contents could clearly be seen.

“Appetizing,” Ulrich mumbled.

"Where's Aelita?" Odd asked after Leo sat down at the table with his food.

"I'm guessing she's the pink-haired one?" Leo asked.

"Yeah. Do you know where she is?"

“She’s in my room. I slept on the couch,” he said absent-mindedly.

Odd stood up from the table.

“Where are you going?” Yumi asked.

"Just to check on her.”

"You guys wanna bite?" Leo asked the two left at the table.

Ulrich fought gagged.

Yumi tried to put on a polite smile as she declined.

"Alright, more for me and the kitties," Leo said as both the tabby and black cat jumped onto the table and each took an entire strip of bacon off of the plate.

Odd quietly rapped his knuckle against Leo’s bedroom door. When there was no reply, he opened it. Aelita was sound asleep on top of the covers. Her make-up was smeared and she was snoring slightly. Since he saw that she was okay, he let her continue sleeping.

A tired groan came from off to the side and Yumi and Ulrich turned to see Jeremie opening the screen door that went to the backyard.

"Good morning!" Leo greeted happily.

"Hey, Einstein," Ulrich said as Jeremie sat down in a chair.

He grunted as a response.

"Why were you outside?" Yumi asked.

He slowly turned his head.

“I woke up in a pile of dirt,” he responded in aggravation.

Yumi and Ulrich tried to hold in their laughter, only to fail as they laughed into their hands.

"Not funny,” Jeremie said.

"Hey, Einstein's up!" Odd said as he walked into the room.

"I hate you," was his response.

"Woah, hey, don't blame me. Blame the alcohol," Odd said as he sat down at the table again.

"It was your alcohol so therefore I blame you," Jeremie said.

“Speaking of blame, sorry I ripped your shirt,” Ulrich said.

“No problem,” Odd shrugged. “I rarely wore that shirt anyway. Aelita is sound asleep by the way.”

“Why I did not sleep in the bed with her I have no idea,” Yumi said, placing a hand to her forehead.

"Wait, why are we here anyway?" Jeremie asked.

“Conor dropped us off here,” Odd replied as he pulled out the carton of cigarettes still in his shirt pocket. “I must have told him to take us here. Better than showing up at Kadic in the state we were in.”

Jeremie shot a glare at Odd when the smoke billowed out of his nose.

"Will you not smoke in here please?"

Odd made a childish face at the boy before facing forward again.

"That's adorable," Jeremie replied.

Jeremie looked at Yumi and Ulrich for help, but they just shrugged.

"Will you put that out?" Jeremie complained again.

"What time is it?" Odd asked, completely ignoring Jeremie.

Leo looked at his watch and said, “Eight o’clock.”

“ _Eight o’clock?”_ Yumi and Jeremie cried in shock.

“Should probably wake Aelita up and get out of here then,” Ulrich said, standing up and stretching. “Anyone have money for the bus?”

“I’m sure we will if we put our money together,” Odd replied. “I really want to shower before we leave though.”

“No time!” Jeremie declared as he rushed to retrieve Aelita. It was a few seconds later that they heard him call out from somewhere in the house, “Where’s Aelita?!”

Odd put out his cigarette in the ash tray that was sitting on the table and stood up, deciding to fetch Aelita himself.

Ulrich and Yumi could hear Odd and Jeremie bickering about something as Leo pulled a glass pipe out of his pocket, packed the bowl with marijuana and began smoking it. The strong scent immediately filled the room.

The two cats walked across the table and onto Yumi and Ulrich’s laps, rubbing their soft faces against theirs.

 

* * *

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk if anyone caught who Leo was, but I basically used that character from That 70's Show (who's name is also Leo).


	13. Chapter 13

It was amazing how they even made it to their second class on time. They caught the bus and rode forty-five minutes to Kadic from Leo’s house. They all ran up to their dorm rooms before showering faster than they ever had in their lives before darting to class.

Jeremie, Aelita, Ulrich, and Odd sat in Mrs. Hertz’s class. Jeremie and Aelita were trying their best to listen, but their eyes kept drooping shut. Odd and Ulrich were not even trying to stay awake or pay attention at all.

Aelita’s eyes closed yet again. Her head fell and the pencil she had been writing with dragged across the paper, creating a long line that continued onto the table top. Jeremie nudged her and she snapped her head up and continued writing.

By the time gym class came around they were more awake, though still clearly in need of a nap. The chilly, fresh air felt nice to the tired teens.

Aelita was wearing navy blue shorts with a pink sweatshirt. Odd and Ulrich were wearing t-shirts and black, knee-length shorts. Jeremie stuck with the sweat pants and a t-shirt he always wore.

"Alright class!" Jim shouted at the students that sat on the ground before him. "Today we’ll hit the weight room and play some lacrosse.”

The students began picking partners when Jim began shouting again

“Now, now, hold on! I’ll be choosing the partners today.”

Everyone groaned in response.

"Everyone go sit with your partners after I call them out. Poliakoff, you’re with Belpois."

The two boys looked at each other. They were already relatively close to one another so neither bothered to move.

"You look pretty tired, huh?" a voice whispered from behind Ulrich, Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita.

They turned to see Sissi smirking at them.

"And I seemed to have noticed that neither of you were in our first class today. Strange, I mean I knew you guys did everything together, but I didn't know you even had the same hooky schedule.”

"Why don't you just back off, Sissi?" Ulrich snapped.

"Oh, Ulrich dear. I wouldn't want to accuse _you_ of anything! It's your little friends I have the problem with. As you know, my father runs this school. I could tell him anything and I'm sure he'd believe me."

"Sissi...first off, I'm really, really not in the mood to deal with you today. Second, you should really stop with the threats before I tell everyone about how you fell off a ladder trying to prank Ulrich and I," Odd said.

"How-how did you find out about that?" she stuttered before glaring at Nicholas and Herb.

The two boys shook their heads and held their hands up in a surrendering manner.

“We didn’t tell them, Sissi. Honest!” Herb said.

"You don't need to know how we know. We just know, okay?" Odd said.

"Don't you go threatening me Odd Della Robbia! I'm the principal's daughter!"

“Yes, yes, we know,” Aelita, Jeremie, Ulrich, and Odd said simultaneously in exasperation.

“Aelita, you’re paired with Ulrich,” Jim announced.

“Honestly, Ulrich. I don’t know why you hang out with such losers when you could be hanging out with me,” Sissi said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t hang out with anyone who’s stuck up like you,” Ulrich chided, jerking his shoulder out of her grasp.

“And yet you hang out with trash,” Sissi said, glancing at Odd.

Odd felt her stare but did not look at her.

“You wanna know what I think, Sissi? I think-“ Odd started as his eyebrow twitched in aggravation.

“Odd and Sissi?” Jim called.

The two looked at Jim and then at the rest of their classmates. Their faces fell as realization hit.

“No,” Odd said. “Jim, don’t do it!”

“You two are partners,” Jim continued.

"No!" the two shouted.

"You can't pair me with her!" Odd complained, pointing a finger at Sissi.

"And you can't pair me with this freak!" Sissi pointed at him as well.

"Actually, I can, and I did,” Jim said in a grouchy manner. “Now everyone get to the weight room, on the double!”

Jim blew his whistle and everyone stood up. Odd and Sissi glared at each other as Ulrich and Jeremie snickered.

“Good luck, good buddy,” Ulrich said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

In the weight room, Odd was lying on one of the bench presses. After losing to a game of rock, paper, scissors, he was the one who had to lift the weights first; Sissi was his spotter which caused him great unease.

"You disgust me," Sissi stated.

"Odd! That weight isn't going to lift itself!" Jim’s voice rang out from across the room.

"Jim! I don't trust her with these weights!" Odd called, lifting his hand in the air.

Jim rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Della Robbia, will you just cooperate?”

“No worries, Odd. Sissi can’t even lift a five pound weight, let alone that one,” Aelita said, earning a laugh from Ulrich.

Sissi shot a glare in her direction and said, “No one asked your opinion _dork_.”

“You know, you’re right Aelita,” Odd said as he lifted the bar up. “But if she does end up dropping this weight on my face I'm making her pay for my plastic surgery since she already has one on speed dial.”

This made many in the class laugh. Sissi gave an angry growl before pushing the weight out of his hands.

There was a loud clanking sound as the weight fell onto Odd’s chest, knocking his breath out of his lungs. Everyone then let out an 'Oh!' as if they felt the pain themselves.

Odd turned on his side and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You bitch,” he choked out.

“Sissi!” Jim scolded as he marched over to them.

“What? His hands slipped!” she said innocently.

Odd sat up and glared at her and she gave him a wink.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough,” Jim said and blew his whistle. “Next station!”

Ulrich and Aelita were now at the bench press. Aelita was spotting Ulrich as he lifted the weight.

“I have a feeling this will be an interesting gym class,” Aelita said.

“Me too, Aelita. Me too,” Ulrich responded.

Odd and Sissi were on treadmills. Sissi was power-walking on hers while Odd jogged. Both were keeping their eyes away from each other.

"Bet that hurt, huh?" she said snidely.

"You _would_ break the silence wouldn't you?" he said.

“Bet it was pretty embarrassing too.”

“Oh sweetheart you could never embarrass me,” Odd smiled in mock sweetness at her.

“Do _not_ call me sweetheart.”

Odd looked at her as she stuck her nose up. He brought his hand forward and held his finger on the button that controlled the speed. Sissi’s eyes snapped open as the belt on the treadmill started moving faster and faster until she was at an all-out sprint.

"Wha-what is going-what's happening?!" she cried as she shuffled around trying to speed it down.

Odd jogged innocently and smiled.

Sissi finally tripped and shot back into the wall.

The class stopped what they were doing and turned to see what had happened. Jim was out in the hallway talking to another teacher. Ulrich had just started spotting Aelita when they looked over to see Sissi on the floor. They both began laughing, Ulrich even harder than Aelita since he had seen the entire spectacle.

Odd hopped off his own treadmill and called out, “Jim! Sissi had a little accident!”

“What on earth happened now?” Jim growled as he rushed back into the room.

"Odd started it!" Sissi sat up and pointed an accusing finger at Odd.

Jim pinched the skin between his eyes in aggravation.

"Look...if you two keep this up, I’ll send you both to the principal’s office!”

"Not my fault she can’t control the machines, but okay," Odd muttered as he shrugged.

“Quiet, Della Robbia!” Jim scolded before turning to the rest of the class. “Alright. Everyone, outside!”

The class had separated into two teams. Ulrich and Aelita on one while Odd and Sissi were on the other.

When the lacrosse game was almost over, Jim was pleased to see that Odd and Sissi had not once tried to hurt each other. It was not until Odd was talking to another teammate and not paying attention that Sissi deliberately stuck her stick out to trip him.

The class began laughing and Sissi leaned on her lacrosse stick and smiled at him.

“It’s like you have two left feet, freak.”

Odd glared up at her. Upon hearing Ulrich’s voice, he sat up.

“Hey, Odd! Did you hear the one about the dumb bimbo who tried to pull a prank on two of her fellow classmates?”

Odd stood up, smirked, and put his hand to his chin in mock-thought.

“No, I don’t believe I have, good buddy!”

“Oh, sure you have! It’s the one that ended in the dumb bimbo falling off a ladder and completely failing.”

Odd snapped his fingers and said, “Oh yeah! I have heard that one! It’s because it was Sissi! Sissi was the dumb bimbo who fell off the ladder trying to prank _us._ ”

Ulrich laughed and others followed suit.

Sissi blushed red in embarrassment. No one except Herb and Nicholas had known about that until just then.

She angrily snatched the lacrosse ball from another student’s hand and chucked it as hard as she could at Odd’s lower half. When the ball hit its target the entire class, especially the boys, let out a loud “OH!”

Odd fell to the ground and curled into himself, emitting out choking noises.

"Nice one, Sissi!" Herb shouted between laughter.

Sissi swished her hair behind her shoulder and smiled.

Odd coughed and gagged a bit as the pain made him almost want to throw up. His hand was in front of his pained area.

Jim pinched the skin between his eyes as the bell rang.

Ulrich, Jeremie, and Aelita leaned over him.

“You okay?” Ulrich asked.

“No,” Odd gasped out.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Ulrich held up three fingers and Odd looked at his warily.

"Five?"

"No, three," Ulrich said as he shook his head.

Jeremie snorted with laughter. Odd punched him right in the nether-regions so that he could feel his pain. Ulrich flinched and Aelita put a hand to her mouth.

Jeremie gave a shout of pain and fell to the ground as well.

"I have a feeling you guys might need some ice later…” Aelita said timidly as Ulrich tried hard not to laugh.

 

* * *

* * *

 


	14. Chapter 14

"Okay now, what is a neuron?” Jeremie asked on a Monday morning as Rosa slapped pancakes onto his plate.

"A cell that sends out nerve impulses,” Odd answered.

"Very good!" Jeremie said as they walked out of the line and to the lunch table. "You know, you've gotten a lot better these past few weeks."

"Thanks, Jer," he accepted the compliment with a smile. "And, y’know…thanks for…helping me…"

Jeremie grinned. "No problem."

The two joined Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi at the table. Usually Yumi ate breakfast at home, but she had decided to eat with her friends that morning.

“Hello there, dorks,” came a sneering voice.

"Well, my day is now so much better,” Odd said before taking a drink of his coffee.

"Oh don't be so sour Oddball," Sissi smirked.

"Sissi, why don't you just leave us alone?" Yumi said.

"Yeah, as much as we'd love to keep this conversation going, why don't you and your, um…lackeys, go somewhere else?" Odd said, gesturing to Herb and Nicholas.

"We are not lackeys!" Herb snapped.

"Oh? Is that so?" Odd asked, grinning at him.

"Yeah! That is so!”

Odd raised his eyebrows and said, “Riiight.”

Herb grinded his teeth in anger while Odd simply took another sip of coffee.

“You-you,” Herb stammered in anger. “You think you’re so cool with your-your piercings and your-your…hair!”

“What?” Odd snickered at the lame come-back.

Yumi, Jeremie, Ulrich, and Aelita were all laughing at this point, making Herb even more furious.

"Wipe those grins off of your faces!" he demanded.

There was a pause, and then the response to the threat was more laughing.

"Stop laughing!" Herb shouted. “I got news for you, Della Robbia, you’re no hot shot so why don't you just go back to wherever you came from!"

"Woah, okay buddy, let’s calm down," Odd said, still grinning as he held up his hands in a surrendering way. "What's your name again anyway?"

"Herb Pichon!" Herve pointed a thumb at his friend behind him who was still standing in silence.

There was another moment of silence before Odd turned to Yumi and said, “So, goggles _does_ have a name.

"Alright, that's it!" Herb shouted as he rolled up his sleeves. “Let’s go, mister cool guy!”

"Wait!" Sissi said as she held an arm out in front of his face. "I'll take care of this."

Sissi whipped around and grabbed glass of juice from the table behind her. The student who was drinking it gave a 'hey!' in protest.

She smirked right as she tipped it over Odd’s head, except it did not land on the one she wanted. Just as she tipped the glass, Aelita shot out of her seat and knocked it back in the other direction. Aelita found herself lying across Odd’s lap, staring up at Sissi who was covered in orange juice.

Sissi gave a squeal that could break glass as the orange liquid dripped from her hair.

Odd let out a laugh as Aelita sat up.

“Thanks, princess!”

"No problem,” she said as the entire cafeteria gaped in amusement at what had just occurred.

Suddenly Odd felt someone grip his shirt collar.

"You won't be smiling like that for long!" Herb shouted.

Odd sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Herb, let go of my shirt.”

"No! You'll pay for what you-or Aelita…whatever! It's your fault that Sissi is covered in juice and you're gonna pay!" he lifted up his fist in what was meant to be a threatening manner.

By now, the whole cafeteria was watching. Rosa was back in the kitchen, therefore unable to stop the situation.

Odd just closed his eyes. He looked as if he was trying to stay calm.

"Get off," he said.

The table sensed danger in Odd’s voice. Aelita could feel it even more so considering she was the only one who saw how angry he got toward Ron at the party a while back.

"I-I'm going to punch you so hard it-it-"

"Knock his lights out Herb!" Sissi cried from across the room at the napkin dispenser. Nicholas was helping her wipe the juice off her face and shirt.

Hearing this gave Herb a new surge of courage and he brought his fist down for the punch. Odd, however, stopped the oncoming fist with his own hand and gripped it hard. Herb let go of his shirt as Odd stood up and threatengingly towered over him.

"Ow! Ow! Stop it! I'm sorry!" Herb cried as his hand popped in various places.

Ulrich stood up to stop what was happening, but Aelita beat him to it. She reached out and touched Odd’s hand. The touch was so gentle, yet he felt it and looked back to see Aelita’s pleading expression for him to stop.

Odd’s angry face smoothed out a bit and he let go of Herb, who whimpered a bit as he slumped away.

Aelita gave him a small smile and asked, "You want to leave?"

Odd cracked one side of his neck and said, “Sure.”

She waved at the others before they walked away from the table. Once at the door, however, they heard a battle cry behind them.

Odd turned just in time for Herb to land a punch right on his cheek.

There was a short pause in which Odd processed what had just happened. He then turned his head slowly.

Aelita did not have time to try and stop anything from happening before Odd punched Herb square in the face, knocking him into a table.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" the whole cafeteria immediately started cheering.

Herb turned around and raised his fists a little before his knees buckled and he face planted into the floor.

“Well that was fast,” came a chuckling voice from one of the students.

Suddenly the door to the cafeteria swung open.

" _What_ is going on in here?!" Mr. Delmas shouted.

All it took was one glance at Herb on the floor, whimpering and holding his nose for the principal to realize what had happened.

"Up to my office! Now!" Mr. Delmas said angrily. “Sissi, take Herb to the infirmary.”

Herb was guided away by Sissi and Nicholas. Mr. Tiny appeared seemingly out of thin air and gripped Odd’s shoulder tightly. Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita watched as he was practically dragged away.

* * *

The following day, talk had already gone around about the fight. Both Odd and Herb were receiving many stares.

"Wow. You're all over the school," Jeremie said when he noticed yet another person glance at Odd.

"Mm," was his only response; his chin was resting on his crossed arms.

“You got off pretty light considering,” Jeremie continued. “I mean, only a week of detention for a fight…”

“If you could call it that,” Ulrich laughed. “It was basically one punch and Herb was out.”

“Mm,” Odd noised again.

Figuring that he was not in the mood to talk, Aelita, Jeremie, and Ulrich conversed amongst themselves. When the final class of the day rolled around, Odd seemed to have cheered up.

It was the beginning of November and the weather channel had been speaking about possible snowfall later in the day. Students were talking excitedly about the possibility and kept glancing outside as though it would start at any moment.

"Okay class, let's get started,” Ms. Hertz said as she began writing on the chalk board.

The entire class went by relatively fast. Ulrich was actually able to focus on what Ms. Hertz was saying rather than day dreaming, gazing out the window, or texting. He was finally understanding the concept that she had been teaching for over a week. It was the first time in a while he actually felt confident that he would get a good grade on an upcoming test.

When the bell rang, Jeremie, Ulrich, Aelita, and Odd began walking toward the cafeteria.

“I’m actually going to go up to the room,” Odd said when they stepped out into the hallway.

“You aren’t going to eat dinner?” Aelita asked.

“Not hungry,” he replied. “See you guys later.”

The three remaining friends turned around and began walking to the cafeteria. Ulrich stopped in his tracks, however, when he saw a partially folded-up note on the floor. He would have continued walking had he not noticed Yumi’s name written on it.

He bent down, picked it up, and began reading. Just like that, his good mood from before crashed and burned.

* * *

* * *

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drug abuse in this chapter. Fair warning.

"Odd Della Robbia!" a voice called from across the courtyard.

Odd stopped walking and turned around to see two girls running up to him. One with a microphone and one with a camera. They looked extremely excited to see him though he had hardly ever talked to them. They had tried to interview him at the beginning of the year because he was such an “interesting new student” but he declined.

"We would like to ask you a few questions!" the small, red-haired girl said excitedly.

“Uh, sorry Milly, but no,” Odd answered.

“You haven’t even heard what the questions are about!” she pouted.

“If they’re about me then no.”

“They’re about Sissi,” Tamiya said slyly.

“Oh?” Odd questioned.

"Hello kiddies…and _varment,_ " Sissi said, walking up to them.

“Well, speak of the devil,” Odd said.

“You were talking about me?” Sissi asked. “I’m flattered! I bet it’s about me becoming the Spring Queen at the dance in a few months.”

“The what?” Odd asked.

“Spring Queen,” Tamiya answered. “There’s a dance every spring and the students elect a Spring Queen. The winner is announced at the dance and she gets a sash and tiara.”

Odd rolled his eyes.

“And I’m going to win again!” Sissi announced.

“Oh please,” he mumbled.

“But, actually…that wasn’t what we were talking about,” Milly said.

“Huh? Then what were you talking about?”

“It’s classified,” Tamiya smirked with a hand on her hip.

Sissi crossed her arms.

“Hmph! Whatever. Like I care what two little girls and a piece of trash have to say!” she twirled on her heel and began walking away. “See you around losers!”

Milly stomped her foot. "I hate her!"

Odd watched Sissi walk away and then looked at Milly and Tamiya.

"You know...I think I want to do that interview.”

Milly and Tamiya looked at him with such joy on their faces as though he had just given them a million dollars.

“But, later. Okay?”

The two girls nodded excitedly.

* * *

Yumi had decided to eat dinner with her friends that night. She was almost to the cafeteria when she saw Jeremie, Aelita, and Ulrich. She lifted up her hand to wave but they turned and started walking in the opposite direction. It was then she saw the furious look on Ulrich’s face.

“Ulrich, can we talk about this first?” Aelita pleaded, putting her hand on his arm.

He jerked his arm away and continued stomping across the courtyard. His face was clouded over with anger. He felt betrayed and all he wanted at that moment was to get to Odd and strangle him.

Jeremie was reading the note for the third time as he tried to keep up with Ulrich’s pace.

_‘Did you hear about Yumi and Odd?’_

_‘Ikr. Totally nuts. Who’d have thought the two of them would get together.’_

_‘Omg I know. Just imagine what Heidi K was thinking when she saw them making out in the girls bathroom! She was probably bursting to spread the gossip.’_

_‘Omg I know.’_

_‘Wonder if they’ll go to the spring dance together?’_

_‘M_

The note ended with a clumsily-written letter “M.” He already thought the note was rather strange, but what really stuck out to him was the fact that the hand-writing looked the exact same throughout the entire note.

“Ulrich, I really think you need to calm down and think about this,” Jeremie said.

“I don’t need to calm down, Jeremie!” Ulrich snapped at him as he spun around. “I’m going to kill him!”

“Ulrich!” Jeremie called when Ulrich took off again.

Jeremie then felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Yumi. She looked concerned as she stared at Ulrich’s form.

“Hey, what’s going on? Is Ulrich okay?”

Jeremie responded by handing the note to Yumi.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she read it.

“What the-who wrote this?!” she demanded.

“We don’t know,” Aelita shrugged.

“So that means it isn’t true?” Jeremie asked.

“ _What?_ ” Yumi cried.

“You and Odd aren’t secretly together?”

“No!” she exclaimed.

“Relax, I’m kidding,” Jeremie grinned. “I mean come on, you and Odd?”

“Jeremie, this isn’t funny!” Aelita said. “Ulrich is on his way up to him and Odd’s room right now to strangle him!.”

“Oh man, we need to stop Ulrich before they both kill each other!” Yumi said urgently.

Jeremie pocketed the note and followed Aelita and Yumi, who had already started running.

* * *

A small pill bottle sat on the desk. Odd sat on the floor, elbow resting on one knee. His eyes were closed but his face was tilted up toward the ceiling. He was about to play some music when a shout came from the hallway.

"ODD!"

Odd’s eyes snapped open and he looked at the door. Stomping could be heard getting closer and closer to the door. Odd stood up as fast as he could and tossed the pill bottle into his backpack.

The door swung open with such force it banged against the wall. Ulrich stomped into the room.

"Hey Ul-" Odd started to say, but Ulrich grabbed him by the shirt collar and shoved him against the wall.

"What-what are you-?"

“So you and Yumi, huh?”

“Me and Yumi?” Odd asked, completely at a loss. “What are you-“

“YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN SEEING EACH OTHER BEHIND MY BACK?”

Ulrich shoved Odd into the wall and he backed up, running his hands through his hair.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Odd asked.

Ulrich saw genuine confusion in his expression, but it just made him even more angry that Odd was such a good liar.

“Don’t you lie to me!” Ulrich demanded, grabbing Odd by the shirt again.

“Ulrich, Yumi and I are not seeing each other,” Odd tried reasoning. “What makes you think we are?”

What was wrong with him? Why was Odd not fighting back?

"Ulrich!" Yumi shouted as she ran into the room and pulled him off of Odd.

Aelita and Jeremie followed close behind her. The two ran over to Odd. Jeremie kept a wary eye on Ulrich to make sure he did not lash out.

“Why the hell are you holding me back, Yumi? And why the hell are you getting mad at _me_? You…he-“

"No, Ulrich!" Yumi shouted. She took him by the shoulders and pushed him against the wardrobe. "No we didn't!"

"But-but I saw-!"

“It isn’t true,” Yumi said seriously. “It must be some kind of joke or something. I don’t know, but it isn’t true. Really. We wouldn’t do that to you.”

Jeremie handed the note to Odd, who took it with a slightly trembling hand and began reading it over.

Both Aelita and Jeremie looked at him uncertainly as his hands began shaking even worse. The paper was rattling in his hand.

"Odd, are you okay?" Aelita asked.

"I'm…I’m fine," he replied slowly. “Ulrich this note…I don’t know who wrote it but it isn’t true.”

"Don’t lie to me! I trusted you and you go and you do this!” Ulrich tore out of Yumi’s grasp and swung his fist back. He was going to follow through with the punch but froze as Odd looked slowly up at him.

"Are you going to hit me Ulrich?"

"Why are you acting so calm?" Ulrich spat. "You don't act calm when you're being threatened! Are you not threatened by me?"

"I don't-"

"Punch me then!" Ulrich said, getting closer to Odd's face. "Punch me in the face!"

"I'm-I’m not going to…to hit you, Ulrich,” he croaked.

"Why not huh? Why-“

Suddenly Odd felt a bout of dizziness. He tried to catch his balance on the desk but failed and collapsed on the floor.

"Odd!" Aelita cried as she went to his side and knelt down.

“What the-“ Ulrich stammered.

“Are you okay?” Yumi asked urgently as she too fell to her knees by his side.

"We should take him to Yolanda," Jeremie said seriously.

Ulrich crouched down beside Odd.

“Odd? Are you okay?”

Odd sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. No problem. Just got dizzy is all. It’s fine,” he said, brushing everyone’s hands away.

“Random dizziness is not fine. Dizziness strong enough to make you collapse is not fine either,” Jeremie said with…was that worry?

"Here!" Aelita said, handing him a water bottle.

Odd gave her a small smile and gently pushed the water bottle back in her direction, though his hands were still visibly shaking.

“Aelita, I’m fine.”

"Come on, let’s get you to Yolanda," Ulrich said as he tried helping him up off the floor.

Odd ignored Ulrich’s attempt to help him and put his hand on the desk and stood up.

“No,” he said seriously.

“Odd…” Yumi scolded, though worry was clear on her face.

“Honestly, guys. It’s not a big deal. It’s happened before. Nothing to worry about,” Odd reasoned. “Can Ulrich and I please talk alone though? Try and figure this whole mess out?”

Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremie looked at each other uncertainly, but nodded.

As soon as the door closed, Odd immediately sank down onto his bed.

“Okay, so…what the fuck?” he said, waving the note around.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ulrich could not help but smile.

“I don’t know who thought this was funny, but…” Odd said.

Ulrich’s face held a shadow, though it was not angry like before.

“You guys…really aren’t…” he mumbled.

“No!” Odd said. “Seriously, I would not do that to you, ever! You have to believe me. Plus, Yumi and I? Come on…”

Ulrich bit his lip and shuffled his feet.

“Damn… I-I’m sorry,” he said. “Really. I-I just-“

“It’s okay, good buddy,” Odd said. “I understand. You were pissed. I get it.”

“No, no. I was being completely crazy,” he said, sitting down on the bed next to his best friend.

He had his head in his hands. Odd could tell he was utterly embarrassed and he felt bad for him.

“Well, I know a thing or two about crazy,” Odd said jokingly.

Ulrich peaked up from his hands and a smile formed on his face. Odd knew the situation was officially okay when Ulrich started laughing.

“So, we okay?” Odd asked his smiling best friend.

“Yeah. Yeah we are.”

Odd smiled and said, “Well, good buddy, I’m not going to hug you, but I will give you a joyful slap on the shoulder.”

Once Odd did just that, he stood up from the bed and began grabbing various things for the showers. He pulled a pair of black sweatpants out from underneath his backpack.

“I’m going to hit the showers and go to bed.”

Ulrich watched Odd move about the room and his face fell into concern.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, why?” Odd answered.

Ulrich held his hands out in a ‘are you serious’ manner.

“Um, hello? Your dizzy spell,” Ulrich said.

Odd had his hand on the doorknob, looking like he wanted to run out of the bedroom. He shrugged.

“Yeah, like I said. No biggie. It’s happened before.”

Ulrich did not have time to say anything else before Odd left, clumsily ramming his shoulder into the door frame as he rushed out.

Ulrich took note of how his hand was still shaking a bit while it was on the doorknob. Rather than chasing him down and forcing him to go to Yolanda, he just shook his head and stood up. He was about to head to the cafeteria to get what was left for dinner when he accidently kicked Odd’s backpack.

Books and folders spilled onto the floor. Ulrich let out an exasperated sigh before he bent down to clean up the mess.

He had finished putting everything in the backpack when something caught his eye. He assumed it must have rolled out of the backpack and across the floor.

Ulrich picked up the pill bottle and read the label.

“Valium.”

Ulrich looked up at the closed door and then back at the pill bottle. He sighed and rubbed his upper lip.

“Shit, man,” he breathed.

Either Odd actually needed the stuff or he was abusing it, and by the way he was acting before with the dizziness, slow talking, and shaking he could only assume it was the latter.

Before heading down to dinner, he made the decision to hide it as well as not tell Jeremie, Yumi, and Aelita.

* * *

 


	16. Chapter 16

 

It had been a few days since Ulrich had just about strangled Odd and then found the bottle of Valium. He still had not told the others about it nor Odd. As far as he knew, Odd must have been thinking he misplaced it.

The gang was in the wreck room one afternoon. Lance Fleischer, the boy with spiky black hair from the soccer match at the beginning of the year, had challenged Odd to a game of ping pong. Jeremie’s reminder that he needed to study for a test fell on deaf ears.

"So, basketball tryouts today huh?" Lance said as he hit the ball with the paddle.

"Planning on it," Odd replied.

"All right!" he said with enthusiasm.

“Ulrich is too I think, right?” Odd turned his head and looked at his best friend.

The ping pong ball hit him right in the temple and Lance laughed.

"Yeah," Ulrich said. "But I don't know if I'll make the team. I’m more of a soccer player.”

"If you don't then I probably won't,” Odd said. “I’m doing it just because. Need something to do.”

Odd tossed the ball up and hit it with the paddle. The ball hit Lance square in the forehead and Odd gave a triumphant laugh.

It was then that hurried footsteps could be heard running into the room. Arms wrapped around Odd from behind, completely surprising him. He lifted up his arms as if the small girl hugging him was a hungry piranha. Ulrich, who had been taking a drink from his water bottle, sputtered as arms wrapped around his neck.

"We did it!" Milly squealed as Tamiya giggled in happiness.

“Um, did what?” Odd asked uncomfortably, looking down at Tamiya.

Milly released Ulrich from her embrace and said, “We caught the culprit!”

“The wha-?” Ulrich and Odd asked at the same time.

Jeremie held up his finger and said, “I had a suspicion that the note was not a prank between two people, but just one. The handwriting in the ‘conversation’ was suspiciously similar. So, I sent the two sneakiest people in the school to investigate.”

“Oh? And who was it?” Yumi asked.

Odd, Tamiya, and Lance walked over to the couch. Tamiya stood next to Milly and they paused for dramatic effect before saying, “Sissi.”

There was a moment of silence before they all sighed in exasperation.

“Why did we not think of that?” Aelita slapped a hand to her forehead.

“Why did _I_ not think of that?” Jeremie said in disbelief.

“Dunno, but it was definitely her,” Milly said. “Not only that, but the Kadic Paper was just published so what you said about her is spreading all throughout the school! It’s only a matter of time before she reads it.”

“Can’t wait,” Tamiya smiled widely.

“What did you say?” Yumi asked, looking at Odd.

Suddenly, the door to the wreck room burst open.

“A BLACK-HAIRED, BOTCH-NOSED BIMBO?”

The loud screech made everyone in the room turn around, and what they saw was a fuming Sissi; the paper was crumpled up in her fist.

“That. And other things,” Odd told Yumi.

Lance laughed, “Oh snap. She looks piiiiiissed.”

Sissi stomped over as she ripped up the paper. They all expected her to scream her lungs out at him, but instead she lifted up a hand for a slap.

“Sissi? Just what on earth do you think you’re doing?” Jim asked, walking up behind her.

He could read her body language clearly. She was definitely not lifting up her hand for a high-five. He crossed his arms and cleared his throat, waiting for an explanation.

“Uh…um, just fixing my hair, Jim!” Sissi squeaked, running her hand over the back of her head.

“Mhm,” Jim grumbled. “I’m watching all of you.”

When he walked away, Sissi tossed the ripped up pieces of paper at them and leaned down.

“And I do _not_ have stubby arms and a voice that sounds like a dying hawk!” she spat in a lower voice.

When she stomped out of the room, they all burst out laughing.

“Oh my gosh!” Yumi gasped out. “You got her so good. She’s livid!”

"Hey!" Someone called into the wreck room, alerting everyone. They all turned to see William Dunbar and Theo Gauthier standing in the doorway wearing work-out clothes. "Basketball tryouts in ten. Come on!"

“Well, I guess that’s our cue,” Ulrich said, standing up with Odd and Lance. “Wish us luck.”

“Luck!” Aelita said while Yumi and Jeremie gave them a thumbs-up.

* * *

The gym was filled with boys of different grades. Some were talking excitedly about try-outs, some were looking rather confident about getting a position while others seemed nervous. Jim rolled a crate full of basketballs into the large room.

"Okay, okay!" Jim said. "Quiet down! Quiet down!"

Everyone turned their attention to him and he continued talking, "Now, what we're going to do is a few drills and then we'll play a real game to see what you all can really do."

"Sir yes sir!" Theo saluted.

Everyone laughed and Jim said, "Very funny Gauthier. Now, let's do some drills!"

"Can we have music?" Theo asked.

"What?" Gym asked.

"Music, can we have some?"

"If anyone has some to play then-"

Someone raised their hand and Jim rolled his eyes when he saw it was Odd.

"I'd love to see what kind of music you have Della Robbia."

"Great! Then can I plug it in?" Odd asked.

Jim sighed and said, “Okay, okay.”

Odd and Theo stuck their tongues out and gave a small victory-laugh before taking off.

"Nothing inappropriate!" Jim called at the retreating figures.

"Yeah, yeah Jimbo!" came Odd’s voice, making the man grumble.

The music was not the kind Jim would have initially approved of but he looked past it. It was a mix between hard rock and rap and it seemed to really get the players into the zone.

"Leave it to Odd to take control of the music," Jeremie said.

Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremie had finished up their homework and headed over to watch the try-outs. The three had been sitting on the bleachers for a while when Jeremie noticed Aelita had not said a word the entire time they had been there. He turned his head to ask if she was okay when he noticed the dreamy look in her eyes as she watched.

What the hell?

"Aelita?" Jeremie asked, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"Hm? What?" she asked.

“You haven’t said anything this entire time. Are you okay?” he asked.

“Oh! Yeah, I’m fine. Just, y’know…watching the try-outs,” she responded before she looked back at the court.

Jeremie followed her line of sight and his face fell when he saw who she had been gazing at the entire time. It had been a while since he had felt such a pang of jealousy, but suddenly it hit and bounced around in his chest.

“I’ll be right back,” Jeremie mumbled.

Yumi watched him walk away. She knew what was bothering him and she could not help but feel bad for him, but there was really nothing she could do about it. Eventually it would work itself out, at least, she hoped it would. Her eyes moved to Aelita, who was sitting on the bleacher in front of her.

Yumi grinned and nudged her in the back with her knee.

"What?" Aelita turned to look at her.

"Stop drooling."

"What?" Aelita laughed.

"I see who you’ve been watching the entire time."

Aelita blushed and turned away to look out at the court again, but her eyes fell back on Odd.

"You're doing it again…"

"Shut up!" Aelita exclaimed with a smile on her face and blush deeper than before. “You’ve been looking at Ulrich the same way.”

“Hey! I have not!”

“Mhm,” Aelita hummed, turning back around.

Yumi kicked her in the back with her foot.

Jeremie showed up again five minutes later. He seemed to be in better spirits, but it was obvious to Yumi that he was still bothered.

"Alright!" Jim shouted. "Game in five minutes! Take a break!"

All the players jogged over and snatched up their beverages from the side lines.

“Great job, guys,” Yumi complimented. “Bet you’ll both make it.”

“Eh,” Odd and Ulrich shrugged.

Lance suddenly appeared and put Odd in a headlock.

“You. On my team,” he stated with his trademark grin.

“Okay caveman. Let go. You smell like shit,” Odd said in a somewhat strained voice before he was released. “There’s a thing called deodorant. Use it, please.”

Lance bent down and pulled Odd’s deodorant stick out of his back and shook it in his face.

“Okay. Ew,” Odd replied.

“You. On mine,” Theo pointed at Ulrich.

“Alright. Works for me,” Ulrich shrugged.

Odd and Lance’s team ended up winning by ten points. Despite who the winners were, no one knew who was on the team yet. The list would not be up for another couple of days.

Most of the boys showered and changed clothes in the shower rooms after try-outs. Aelita, Yumi, and Jeremie said that they would wait for them on the bleachers.

Odd had a towel on his head, which hid his messy wet hair as he put on his shoes. He was wearing sweatpants, but had not put a shirt on yet. The scars and tattoo were evident on his back along with the few scars on his front and arms.

Ulrich had become used to Odd’s scars and appearance in general. Odd had seemed self-conscious when they first met, but now did not seem to care. It was as if he had been wary of Ulrich asking him questions. Because of this, Ulrich knew that Odd was appreciative of him not questioning him about the marks his body possessed. Ulrich knew that one day he was going to have to ask him, because he knew that Odd needed help; whether it was help dealing with things or simply talking about them.

Theo and Lance said something to Odd, making him laugh. Ulrich watched as they all laughed at whatever joke was told.

Ulrich internally smiled. That moment of truth was not now, because right now Odd was happy. Ulrich himself was happy. Jeremie and Odd had not seriously argued for a long time. They were all okay in that moment, and that very thought comforted him.

After all, Ulrich did not tell anything to his own parents. Jeremie, Yumi, Aelita, and now Odd were what he considered his closest family, and their happiness made him happy.

* * *

Yumi, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremie were walking to the cafeteria. They were laughing about something when a deep voice sounded from behind them.

“Odd,” Mr. Tiny said.

“Oh, hey Tiny,” Odd said, lifting his hand in a wave.

“I just went to your room for our scheduled meeting, but you seemed to forget to tell me you would not be here.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, Tiny. I was at basketball try-outs,” Odd said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“I know,” Mr. Tiny replied. Strangely he did not seem all that aggravated. “I wish you luck on getting on the team.”

"Thanks?" Odd said rather uncertainly.

Mr. Tiny gave a small nod before walking away.

“Well that was weird,” Odd said, in disbelief that he was not shouted at by the large man.

“I better head home guys,” Yumi said, putting one hand on Odd’s shoulder and the other on Jeremie’s. “See you later.”

They all said goodbye then walked into the cafeteria. The four friends were there for about an hour before they decided to head back to their rooms. Odd walked with Aelita to her room because he had left his phone charger in there.

“You need to stop leaving your stuff in my room,” Aelita teased as he rolled up the charger.

“You need to stop making your room so comfortable for my things,” Odd replied.

Aelita smiled in response and followed him to the door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Odd said, opening the door.

“If not you better send out a search party.”

Odd stuck out his tongue, the piercing shining. “Wouldn’t miss you enough to do that.”

Aelita rolled her eyes, “Right.”

Odd smiled before backing out of the room completely, hand still on the door knob.

“’Night,” he said, looking at her with those eyes that made butterflies go crazy in her stomach.

“Goodnight,” she replied.

When the door closed, Aelita fell backwards on the bed and covered her face with a pillow. Odd paused for a second outside the room in thought. He then put his back against the wall, looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes.

“Damn,” he breathed out.

* * *

* * *

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Odd and Aelita fluffies ahead.

 

It had been two hours since Odd had left Aelita’s room and he was wide awake. He had been staring at the ceiling for a solid twenty minutes. He sighed and put his arm over his eyes.

After lying like that for a few minutes he sat up and slipped into a pair of black-and-white checkered Vans. Careful not the wake up Ulrich, he put a dark purple hoodie over his head, grabbed his key and a carton of cigarettes and left the room.

While walking down the stairwell, Odd heard someone open the door from outside. His eyes widened when he saw it was Sissi. The last thing he wanted was for her to tell her daddy on him. He looked around frantically. Upon seeing a neglected sheet of homework on the floor, he picked it up and whipped it in front of his face.

As Odd walked down the stairs, paper covering his face, Sissi looked down her nose at him and mumbled, “Weirdo.”

Odd was not sure if she recognized him or not so he continued walking at a fast pace. He thought he was in the clear when he reached the foot of the stairs, Sissi suddenly turned around and looked at him suspiciously.

"Hey!" she called, stopping him in his tracks.

Odd was frantically thinking of ways he could get out of this scot-free.

"Helloooo!" Sissi said when she did not get an answer. "What exactly are you doing going outside? You know it's only five minutes before curfew."

"Oh…um, yes! I am aware!" Odd replied, poorly impersonating a female voice. It was the only thing he could think of to do.

"Well you don't want me telling my daddy on you…whoever you are,” she said. Sissi then cocked her eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Who are you anyway?"

"Um-uh-Lo…la?" Odd replied, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Well why are you coming from the boys’ dorms, Lola?" Sissi demanded. "Tristan Brossard again?"

"Um, yeah sure! Whatever…" he replied.

"Did you just say ‘whatever’ to me, Lola?" Sissi snapped.

"What exactly were _you_ doing out so late, Sissi?" Odd asked in annoyance.

He slapped a hand to his mouth when he realized he had spoken in his normal voice.

"Wait just a minute…" Sissi said suspiciously, starting to walk down the steps toward him.

Odd coughed uncomfortably and then stuttered in his girl-voice again, "I-I have to go Prissy-I-I mean Sissi! Bye!"

Odd hurried out the door with the paper still covering his face, tripping and stumbling on his way out.

Sissi watched him, noticing the clothes the figure was wearing. She put a finger to her chin in thought, but then swished hair over her shoulder with a 'hmph!' and started walking up the stairs again.

Once he was a few feet away from the double doors, he looked back. He was relieved to see that Sissi was not following him.

“Pain in the ass…” he muttered, tossing the sheet of paper in a trash can.

The courtyard was dark. The sounds from town were quietly breaking through the silence of the campus. Odd shivered a bit and put his hands in his hoodie pocket. It was so cold out that he could see his breath.

Curfew had surely arrived by that time. Looking around, he saw no one, not even Jim.

Odd began walking away from the school. He put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. It was only when he entered the woods that he heard a noise.

A sniffle.

Odd stopped in his tracks. He listened for a moment and heard it again. He began walking toward the noise. Coming around a large tree, he looked down and was surprised at who he saw sitting on the ground. He would recognize that hair anywhere.

“Aelita?”

Aelita, whose face had been in her arms, looked up at him. She looked just as surprised as him. Odd’s expression changed from surprise to concern as he saw what could only be tear streaks on her face.

"Odd? What are you doing out here?” Aelita asked, wiping the sleeve of her pink sweatshirt on her face.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," he replied. “What are you doing out here?”

"I-I was just…" she stammered. “Sitting.”

Odd let out a small laugh.

“Sitting, huh?” he said, sitting down on the ground next to her. “Mind if I join you then?”

“No, of course not,” she replied.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Odd turned his head and looked at Aelita. She was staring off in front of her, seeming to be deep in thought.

“What’s wrong?” Odd asked gently.

Aelita’s lip quivered then and a couple of tears streamed down her face.

Odd looked at her for a moment and then scooted closer to her so that their shoulders were touching.

"Hey, hey…" he said, putting a hand on her knee. “Talk to me.”

More tears leaked from Aelita’s eyes and she tried in vain to wipe them away. She took a couple of deep, shaky breaths before saying, “M-my…my grandfather passed away.”

Odd took his hand off her knee and gave her a moment to continue.

“H-he had been checked into the hospital a couple of days ago…I didn’t think it would be so serious.”

“I’m…I’m really sorry, Aelita,” Odd said quietly.

“He just…he was having a lot of health issues but refused to get checked out. Finally my grandmother forced him to go to the hospital when he got really bad and…as it turned out he had stage four lung cancer,” she explained.

Odd looked away from her face then. He slowly and awkwardly put his cigarette out on the ground.

Aelita noticed this and could not help a small smile from forming on her face. Odd faced forward again and bit his lip.

“I’m really sorry, Aelita,” he said, looking at her again. “If you want me to leave you alone-“

“No, no,” she said. “Please, stay.”

Odd stared at her face for a few moments before nodding and quietly saying, “Okay.”

They sat in silence again. Aelita shivered a bit and tilted her head so it rested on Odd’s shoulder. Odd was rigid for a few moments before he relaxed. He put his arm around her for both warmth and comfort.

“It’ll just…it’ll be weird not seeing him during the holidays. It’ll be so different…” Aelita’s tearful voice trailed off as a few more tears rolled down her face.

“Yeah…yeah, I know. I know…” Odd said gently, rubbing her arm.

Odd's touch was so comforting to her. She melted further into him, enjoying his scent and the warmth he emitted.

“I know it sounds super cliché, but…it’ll be okay. Everything will be okay,” Odd said, looking down at her.

“It’s not cliché at all,” Aelita smiled.

It made Odd happier to see the smile on Aelita’s face. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his thumb gently rubbing her shoulder. Her head burrowed into the crook of his neck. After a few seconds he tilted his head a bit so the side of his face rested on her soft, pink hair.

* * *

* * *

 


	18. Chapter 18

The next day was a Saturday, which of course meant no classes. They were all sitting in Jeremie’s room, minus Aelita. After saying goodbye to everyone early that morning, she left for home so she could attend her grandfather’s funeral.

“I hope she’s okay,” Yumi said from her spot on the bed. “I texted her a while ago but haven’t gotten a reply back.”

Ulrich sat next to her while Odd sat on the floor. Jeremie was sitting backwards in the desk chair.

“I’ll call her in a bit,” Odd said. “I told her I would call her while she’s home.”

“Why?” Jeremie asked.

“Because I told her I would,” Odd said, giving him a strange look.

Jeremie had been in a bit of sour mood after the basketball try-outs. No doubt because of the way Aelita had been gazing at Odd. On top of that, he was in an even worse mood since Aelita had confided in Odd and not him.

“Yeah, you said that, but why you of all people?” Jeremie asked snidely.

“What?” Odd asked, completely confused.

“Why you? Why not ask for anyone else here to call?”

Odd pinched the skin between his eyebrows as Jeremie ranted. He thought that they were past this, but apparently he was wrong.

“I don’t know, Jeremie,” Odd said. “Maybe because I was the first one she told. I don’t know. Does it really matter?”

“Yes, it matters!” Jeremie shot up and shouted. “You had no right!”

Odd stood up from the floor and scowled at Jeremie.

“To what? To comfort her and try and make her feel better?”

“To get involved that deep in her business! You didn’t have the right to be the first one she told.”

Odd scoffed at Jeremie in disbelief, “Oh, so who should have been the first one then? You?”

“Don’t patronize me,” Jeremie growled.

“Well then what is it, Jeremie? Spit it out!”

“You’re becoming too involved!” Jeremie snapped.

Yumi put her knuckles to her mouth while Ulrich raised his eyebrows. This argument was going into dangerous territory.

“Too involved?” Odd said. "What the hell does that mean?”

"You know what I mean," Jeremie said, glaring icily at Odd.

“So, what? What do you want me to do then, Jeremie?” he asked, throwing his arms out. “Because I’m honestly at a loss here. I thought we were past you hating my guts.”

“Well, apparently not,” Jeremie shrugged.

A heavy silence fell over the room. Ulrich’s eyes widened and Yumi’s mouth had fallen open. The two of them thought that Jeremie was past these feelings as well. They both knew he had had feelings for Aelita, but they assumed that he had moved on for the most part.

Odd grinded his teeth and stared at his so-called “friend.”

“Alright, so that still leaves me with, what do you want me to do?” he said seriously.

Jeremie shrugged again and said, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe, go away? Get out? Leave? And by leave I mean leave the entirety of our group.”

“Fine,” Odd stated before walking to the door.

“Odd, wait!” Yumi said, standing up.

Odd walked out of the room, not bothering to close the door behind him. Yumi turned and glared at Jeremie.

“What the hell is your problem?” she spat before she started stomping out.

“Yumi, wait,” Ulrich said, grabbing her arm.

“What-“ she started, but saw Ulrich motion toward Jeremie who was looking rather glum.

Yumi looked uncertain. After all, Jeremie had been a total jerk. Her mind then traveled back to when Ulrich told her that they might owe Jeremie an apology.

_"How could he be such a jerk?" Yumi said as she and Ulrich walked across the increasingly-darkening campus._

_"I don't know. He's been like this since the beginning of the school year. It's weird," Ulrich answered._

_"You want to know what I think? I think he's jealous."_

_"Jealous?" he questioned. "How so?"_

_"Well, isn't it obvious? Aelita and Odd have become pretty close, and he's part of our group now isn't he?”_

_"Yeah, and?"_

_"Come on, Ulrich!” Yumi said. “Jeremie is, like, in love with Aelita. We were also his first friends here. I think he really doesn’t want to share any of us."_

_Ulrich thought about it, and things began piecing together._

_"I think we owe him an apology," Ulrich said, earning a surprised look from Yumi._

_"What? Why?"_

_"Think about it, Yumi. Jeremy has been feeling weird about us having a new friend in the group for a while, and we didn’t even really notice. We just took it as him being a huge douche, but in reality, he’s just worried about us forgetting him. To top it off, he's jealous of Odd and Aelita’s relationship.”_

_"So, what? We've met a kid that we really click with. Why is that such a problem?" Yumi asked._

_There was still a hint of annoyance in her voice, but she understood what Ulrich said. Her tough demeanor soon fell, and she sighed._

_“I guess you’re right,” Yumi said. “We’ll have to talk to him about it.”_

But talking to him about it never came. Yumi finally nodded and crossed her arms, a serious look on her face. Ulrich turned around and looked at Jeremie.

“Dude…” Ulrich said in disapproval and surprise. “What the hell?”

Jeremie sank down in the chair and put his face in his hands.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled. “No, no, I do know. I just… I don’t know.”

Ulrich and Yumi stared at Jeremie. They could tell that he felt guilty. Jeremie had had quite a bit of trouble dealing with Odd and Aelita’s relationship since day one. They had kept an ample distance from the whole situation until then, but obviously, Jeremie was still having trouble dealing and needed help.

“Alright, I think it’s time for an intervention,” Ulrich said.

* * *

_"Get out of this house! Get out! Leave!" A woman’s rough voice could be heard clearly from outside the dingy house._

_Her purple-hair was in a messy bun, but she was behaving in such a furious manner that strands were slipping out of the elastic band with every harsh movement. She threw open the front door and began tossing clothes and other belongings out of the house._

_"What do you think you're doing?" the man with dirty blonde hair shouted back at her. "Don't you throw my stuff out that door!"_

_"Don't tell me what to do! It's MY house!" she shouted back as she shoved past him._

_"Isobel! Control yourself!" he grabbed her shoulders and she glared at him._

_"Don't you tell me to control myself, Antoni!" Isobel yelled in his face._

_Their five-year old son sat in his room with his knees up to his chin. He covered his ears with his hands to try and block out the shouting. They had been fighting a lot recently and he did not like it one bit._

_He flinched at the sound of glass breaking._

_"Fine! I'm leaving then!" came his father’s shout followed by stomping footsteps._

_"Fine! Get the fuck out and don’t ever come back!" Isobel shouted after him as he stomped out into the yard._

_Odd ran down the stairs and made it out onto the front porch before his dad got into the car. He tossed a few shirts into the back seat, but left the rest on the ground._

_"Daddy! Where are you going?" Odd called after him._

_Antoni was in the process of taking out a cigarette, but at the sound of his son’s voice, dropped it back in the carton. He looked over at him, expression immediately softening. He tossed the cigarettes into the car and walked over to his son. He knelt on one knee so they were eye-level with each other._

_"I'm not sure," he replied._

_"Well, when will you be back?” Odd asked._

_"I don't know… but no matter how different things might get, we'll still see each other around won't we?"_

_"What are you talking about?" Odd asked; he did not like the way his dad was talking. "What's going on?"_

_"I thought I told you to get out!" a shriek came from inside the house. "Get out!"_

_"Everything will be okay," his dad said as he gave him a hug that smelled of cologne and cigarettes. Odd wrapped his small arms around his dad and he felt as though everything was beginning to change._

_When their embrace ended, his dad ruffled his hair. He then walked to the car and got in. Odd watched, eyes filling with tears, as he slammed the door shut. Antoni put his head out the window, looked back at his son and gave the best encouraging smile he could muster._

_"D-daddy..." Odd stammered quietly as the car began pulling away. He then yelled after him. "Daddy! Don't leave! Please!"_

_But the car was already driving down the street._

_Odd walked down the steps and picked up one of the shirts his father had neglected on the ground. It was so large and Odd was so small that it still touched the ground when he held it. Clutching the shirt in his hands, he watched the car until it disappeared. His legs gave out and he fell onto his knees and cried._

_Isobel listened to her son crying as she sat at the kitchen table. She did not get up from her slumped position. Instead, she continued staring at the ceiling, cigarette in one hand and a large bottle of alcohol in the other. She took a swig and put the back of her hand to her mouth. After a few moments, when the burn of the liquor subsided, she slammed the bottle on the table, put her arm over her eyes and cried._

_An hour after Antoni had left, Odd was still outside on the ground in the exact same spot. He had stopped crying a little while ago and just sat staring off into the distance where his dad had disappeared from view._

* * *

Odd was lying on his bed listening to a heavy metal album so loud he was surprised that Jim had not come by and shouted at him to “turn that crap down!”

He had looked around for the Valium but still could not find it. He had not been able to find it since the last time he abused it. One of the only comforts he had from having lost it was that he knew he needed to stop using it so he would not get hooked, because then what would he do? Another thing that made him feel better was the fact that the bottle did not hold his name. It was not properly and legally prescribed.

The door knob rattled as Ulrich unlocked it and came inside, Yumi following.

“Sup? Guess who made the basketball team?” Ulrich said over the loud music.

Odd turned down the volume with the remote before answering, “You?”

"Nope. You."

"What?" Odd asked, rather surprised. "And you didn't?"

"Nah. I'm more of a soccer guy anyway," he answered.

“Well, okay. Great,” Odd answered before looking back up toward the ceiling.

Yumi and Ulrich looked at each other. They could tell that their friend was still bothered.

“Hey, listen…” Ulrich said, sitting down on his bed. “Jeremie didn’t mean what he said.”

“Mhm,” Odd muttered.

“He’s just trying to deal with stuff right now,” Yumi said. “He’ll snap out of it again. Really.”

“And then he’ll snap back into it and we’ll be right back where we are now,” Odd stated in a monotone voice.

Yumi and Ulrich could not think of a response to this so they sat and listened to music until Yumi started up a conversation. It was not until later in the afternoon that Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd went down for lunch.

They walked across the courtyard, all three thinking about whether Jeremie would show up or not. Suddenly, a voice jerked them out of their thoughts.

"Hey, Odd!"

They turned to see Milly and Tamiya running toward them.

"Hey, what’s up?" Odd said. In response, Tamiya handed him what looked to be a pen. “What’s this?”

"It's a pen…I think," Tamiya answered and Odd cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.

"And you're giving it to me because...?" he asked as Yumi and Ulrich looked at it with curiosity.

"I dunno," Milly shrugged. "Sissi said to give it to you."

"Sissi said-?" Odd started, pressing the end to open it only to get cut off by a loud pop as the pen exploded black ink all over his face and clothes.

There was a small moment of silence before Odd took a deep breath and said, “I hate my life. So much.”

They could hear the shrieking laughter of Sissi from across campus as Milly and Tamiya apologized over and over again, insisting that they did not know that would happen.

"She also wanted us to give you this," Tamiya said timidly as she handed Odd a folded piece of paper.

Odd looked like he was ready for something to pop out of the paper as he unfolded it but just saw the written words: "This is for pretending to be Lola Kieffer the other night."

He read the message aloud and then narrowed his eyes.

"You pretended to be Lola Kieffer?" Ulrich asked.

* * *

* * *

 


	19. Chapter 19

Jeremie was walking across the courtyard, the cold morning air nipping at his face. He had been in deep thought over multiple things for the past few days.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream jarred him from those thoughts. The students in the courtyard turned in the direction of the noise to see Sissi stomping outside looking absolutely furious. Despite her expression and stomping, there was still chortling coming from the students. She was covered in a mysterious murky, muddy, orange substance that covered her hair and clothes.

"WHERE IS DELLA ROBBIA?" Sissi demanded at no one in particular.

She was met by more laughter and she gave a frustrated growl.

Jeremie tried sneaking away behind her but she whipped around and pointed at him.

"You! Where is he?"

"I-I don't know-"

"Don't!" she stomped up to him, backing him against the brick wall. "Where is Della Robbia?"

"I really don't know Sissi," Jeremie said, waving his hands back and forth.

He was not lying. He had not spoken to Odd since their altercation.

"Whatever, I can find him myself!" she snapped before walking off.

Jeremie watched her walk away and rubbed a hand across his forehead and gave a sigh of relief.

* * *

Aelita was in her room packing some clothes into her suitcase when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in!"

Ulrich walked in and she asked, "Should I bring this hat or this hat?"

Ulrich gave a small laugh and said, “Either one.” Aelita raised her eyebrows and he pointed to the white beanie in her right hand. “That one.”

"Thank you," she said, smiling as she put it on her head.

* * *

Yumi slapped the button on her alarm clock to turn it off. She then hurriedly changed clothes. Despite not having school that day, she was going to Kadic anyway. She wanted to say goodbye to her friends before they left for break.

Before rushing out the door she said goodbye to her parents, who did not even have a chance to respond as the door slammed shut.

* * *

"Thanks for carrying so much of my stuff!" Ulrich called back to Odd who was fumbling around with his luggage.

"Seriously, Ulrich?" Odd grumbled as they arrived at the bus stop. "Why can't you help with this?"

"I am," Ulrich answered as he held up a small bag. "I'm carrying this."

"Wow, big deal. I'm carrying-" he grouched, dropped everything. "-all this!"

Ulrich smirked at him, "You heard Jim! He said it’s good for you to carry my luggage."

"I don't understand his theory that carrying your luggage is a form of basketball training.”

Ulrich shrugged and then waggled his finger at him, "Don't argue with coach."

Odd mimicked him poorly, "Don't argue with coach!"

"Okay, I do not sound like that," Ulrich said just as Aelita walked up to them with her own bags.

"Hello!" she chirped.

“Hey,” Ulrich and Odd said simultaneously, looking to the left.

"Hello to you too," Yumi’s voice greeted seemingly out of nowhere.

“Hey,” Ulrich and Odd said simultaneously again, though this time looking to the right at Yumi.

Yumi stopped in front of them and looked at them strangely. “You two spend way too much time with each other.”

Aelita laughed as the two boys shrugged, again, simultaneously.

“I’m glad you made it!” Aelita said.

“Of course,” Yumi said. “I won’t be seeing your mugs for a few days. Too bad it isn’t all of us though…”

They all fell into silence for a few moments until Jeremie’s voice came from behind them.

“Hey guys.”

“Hey, Jeremie,” Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi greeted rather awkwardly.

Jeremie set his bags on the ground and looked at Odd who was merely texting on his phone.

"Hey Odd…" Jeremie said. Odd merely raised his eyebrows but continued looking at the phone screen. "I was wondering if we could talk."

Odd looked at him coldly making Jeremie cough nervously.

“Uh, guys?” Jeremie motioned for the others to give the two of them some privacy.

“Oh, right…sure,” Ulrich said.

Jeremie watched the three walk a few feet away before started their own conversation; they did, however, keep on glancing over at them nosily.

"Listen, Odd…" Jeremie rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about the other day…how I acted. It was wrong of me to say all that stuff and…I’m sorry.”

There as a short silence before Odd said, “Apology accepted.”

Jeremie gave a small grin but Odd did not reciprocate.

“We need to figure this out, Einstein. It’s getting old,” Odd said, not giving the nickname any of the humor it usually had.

Jeremie looked at the ground and shuffled his feet.

“I know.”

“So, what’s up? What’s the issue?”

“I think you have an idea,” Jeremie said, looking at him again.

Odd looked over at Aelita and sighed, steam billowing from his mouth.

“Right,” he muttered.

Jeremie studied him for a moment before saying, “We’ll figure something out, but…are we…?”

Odd grinned and said, “Yeah, we are.”

Ulrich came jogging up to them and said, “Hey guys, sorry, but the bus is almost here. We need our bags. Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah everything is good now,” Jeremie said.

“Good in the hood!” Odd said as he put his hands in his jacket pockets.

“Great!” Aelita cheered, manifesting beside him.

Ulrich put his hands on Odd and Jeremie’s shoulders and said with a smile, “Good to hear.”

“Odd, how are you getting to where you’re going anyway?” Yumi asked. “You’re staying with a friend right?”

“Yep,” Odd said. “I’m walking to a different bus stop.”

“You need a ride?” Yumi asked. “I’m sure my parents wouldn’t mind.”

“No,” he said urgently. “No thanks.”

“O-okay,” Yumi said, surprised at the urgency in his voice.

Ulrich looked behind him as the public transit bus squealed to a stop.

“That’s us. Come on guys.”

“Bye! See you after break!” Aelita called over her shoulder at Yumi and Odd after they had all said their goodbyes.

Yumi and Odd watched the bus pull away, waving until they could no longer see their friends’ brunette, blonde, and pink hair.

“So, you and the Einstein figured it out, huh?” Yumi questioned.

“Yeah, for now,” Odd said.

“For now?”

“There’s still one little problem, but we’ll figure it out somehow,” he said.

Yumi had a feeling she knew what the issue was. It had to be the Aelita, Odd, and Jeremie triangle that had cursed them since the beginning.

“Yeah, you guys will figure it out,” Yumi agreed. “It’s no wonder you two but heads. You’re both incredibly stubborn.”

Odd scoffed, “Oh really?”

Yumi smirked at him, “Like a couple of mules.”

* * *

* * *

 


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song used/referenced in this chapter is "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
> 
> There is also implied suicidal tendencies and self-harm.

 

The car had just entered Strasbourg, France. Jeremie looked out the window at the familiar setting of his home.

“Aunt Chloe made her famous crème brûlée,” Mr. Belpois said. “It’s at home waiting for you.”

Drool began pooling in Jeremie’s mouth at the thought of his favorite dessert.

“Great,” he said. “I was getting tired of cafeteria food.”

“No doubt,” his father laughed.

“So, dad…we’ve been in the car for four hours and you still haven’t asked me about my grades.”

Mr. Belpois gave his son a knowing look.

“I don’t think I need to ask. Straight A’s right?”

Jeremie nodded and his father let out a laugh.

“See? I knew it already. You have been making straight A’s for years. Good job though. Seriously, I’m proud of you.”

Jeremie could not help the smile that formed on his face. He always liked receiving his father’s praise.

* * *

 

"Are you alright sweetie? You're awfully quiet," Mrs. Hopper said, turning around in the passenger seat of the car to look at her daughter.

Mr. Hopper was driving but quickly glanced at Aelita through the rearview mirror.

"I'm fine mom," Aelita said with a reassuring smile.

"Is it because of grandfather?" Mr. Hopper asked, a solemn expression coming over his wife’s face.

"That's not it. Well…that’s part of it,” Aelita said.

"What's the other reason?" her mother asked.

"I'm just thinking.”

“About?” she pressed.

Aelita fought the urge to roll her eyes. Her mother could be so nosy sometimes.

“Just my friends.”

“Yumi, Ulrich, Jeremie, and… what is the other’s name again?”

“His name is Odd,” Aelita replied with a slight blush.

“Oh yeah, no idea how I could forget a name like that. You’ve told us a great deal about him,” her mother said.

“Will we get to meet this young man during family week?” Mr. Hopper asked pointedly.

Aelita could sense her father’s protective curiosity. "Yeah. You’ll like him. He’s really funny and nice and-“

Mr. Hopper quirked an eyebrow while his wife smiled knowingly at him.

“Maybe she’s worried he’ll get a girlfriend during break,” Mrs. Hopper said in a low, teasing voice, but loud enough for her daughter to hear.

“Mom! That’s not-that’s-“

Her mother laughed and said, “I’m kidding. You have any girl beat, sweets.”

“That’s not-that isn’t what I’m thinking!” Aelita cried with a blush.

“Alright, alright!” her mother said.

Aelita sighed and looked out the window. Of course the thought had crossed her mind. After all, Odd was going to be around those girls she had seen pictures of. They were all really pretty. She would hardly be able to stand it if he ended up dating one of them.

* * *

“I just don’t understand. You would look so pretty in floral,” Yumi’s grandmother said in her strong Japanese accent.

Yumi’s grandparents flew in for the holidays and Yumi was resisting the urge to run away from her grandmother. The elderly woman was an expert in nagging. A visit from her could not happen without her telling Yumi what she should wear or how she should do her hair. Yumi had been sitting with her at the kitchen table for half-an-hour now.

“I don’t do floral, baachan. I’ve told you,” Yumi said, exasperated.

“I figured you would have grown out of the dark wardrobe by now,” she shrugged.

“Baba!” Hiroki called for his grandmother from the living room.

The old woman stood up and walked toward the doorway, but not before taking hold of a few strands of Yumi’s hair and inspecting it.

“Need a trim…” she mumbled before leaving the room.

Yumi dropped her head on the table and groaned. Her mother patted her on the back with a smile on her face.

**… … …**

“You will need to study for at least three hours every day. You need to bring those grades up,” Mr. Stern ordered.

Ulrich looked out the window at the beautiful town of Freiburg im Breisgau. Despite not wanting to be around his father at all, he had always enjoyed the city he grew up in.

Ulrich had his grey jacket hood up over his head so that his father could not see the earbud resting in his right ear; the other was left open so he could “listen” to the scolding.

“Every day? That’s a little strict, dear,” his mother said in a soft voice.

Mr. Stern grumbled incoherently before stating, “Fine. Three hours every _two_ days.”

Ulrich blinked once and continued looking out the window. There was no point in saying anything.

“I just don’t understand. You’re perfectly capable of straight A’s so why you don’t completely commit is beyond me. If you dropped those good-for-nothing’s you hang out with then maybe you wouldn’t be so distracted,” Mr. Stern said.

“I just don’t understand why you don’t go buy some happy pills,” Ulrich said.

“Ulrich!” his mother scolded.

* * *

Samantha Knight threw her head back after taking a long toke from the delightfully-colored glass bong. More smoke swirls billowed into the room, contributing to the strong scent of marijuana and Nag Champa incense already accompanying them.

Odd chopped at the ecstasy on the coffee table, making quick work of turning it to powder. He placed the credit card on the table, bent forward and sucked the powder up through his nostril.

Roselin nudged Odd with the bong and he coughed a bit and shook his head.

“Ah, come on, Oddy! Don’t tell me you’re going soft,” Tommy taunted.

Tommy was one of Odd’s best friends whom he had known since they were kids. Or, at least, he was _once_ a best friend. Things between them had been rocky for a long time. Tommy was one of those cruel, bully-types. It was obvious he was not going to be a fan of Odd’s new friends at Kadic; Odd knew it from the moment Tommy called Ulrich, Aelita, Jeremie, and Yumi “losers” all those months ago.

Odd did not respond as he closed his eyes and put his head back against the couch from where he sat on the floor. A familiar song followed the mellow hip-hop beat that had been playing over the speakers before.

“Oh man, I love this song!” Roselin cheered, rubbing her face on Odd’s shoulder like a cat.

_If I leave here tomorrow_

_Would you still remember me?_

Odd opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. His mind had already been wandering off to dangerous places and he had hoped the drugs and alcohol would soothe him out, but they were not.

He stood up and walked out of the room. Sam asked where he was going but shrugged when he did not respond. Lucas stared at him suspiciously, almost knowingly, at him as he left. He could tell something was wrong but did not follow.

Odd walked past some of his other friends that were hanging out in the kitchen drinking beer. Or…friends?

Were they even his friends at all? What the hell did that even mean anymore anyway? He was not sure he knew anymore.

_‘Cause I’m as free as a bird now_

_And this bird you cannot change_

Odd could hear them saying something to him but he did not pay them any mind. It was like their voices were coming from far away, as though on the other end of a tunnel. Everything around him was in slow motion.

It was not until he got out onto the balcony that everything returned to normal speed and sound. He could hear the cars eight floors below him. The cold, nighttime wind was biting at his face.

Odd went over to the railing and clenched it tight in his hands. He looked down at the street below with bloodshot eyes. Taking in a shaky breath he put his foot up on the top bar; grabbing onto the pillar and pulling himself up, he brought up his other foot until he was standing on top of the railing.

The wind whipped at his hair as he looked down at the life below him. People were moving along the sidewalks and cars were moving down the street.

One step and he would plummet to the street below.

If he just let go of the pillar he was using to keep him steady he would surely lose his balance and fall down, down, down to the street below.

He just needed to do it already.

Get it over with.

What was he waiting for?

Do it.

Suddenly Aelita’s face popped up in his mind. She was laughing. Following this vision was Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie in he and Ulrich’s dorm room. They were all laughing about something. Odd was there too. He knew it. He heard them say his name.

Odd gasped as he threw himself back onto the floor of the balcony. He slowly stood only to back up against the wall and slide down onto the floor once more.

He continued taking in shaky breaths until he felt his phone go off in his pocket. Looking at the screen, he saw it was Aelita. Before reading the text message he lit a cigarette.

There was guilt in lighting that cigarette. After learning about Aelita’s grandfather, he told himself he would not smoke anymore, but this was his first cigarette since then.

“What’s up?” Aelita’s text said.

Odd laughed a bit at the cruel humor of it. There was so much up, but nothing she needed to be bothered or concerned about.

“What’s up with you?” he answered.

It only took a couple of minutes before she replied with: “In bed watching _Meet Me in St. Louis._ And YOUUUUU?”

Odd took the partially-smoked cigarette out of his mouth and rubbed his eyes. Aelita could never know any more about him than he had already shared.

He pulled up his jacket sleeve and put the cigarette out on his forearm right next to a scar that was already there. After pulling his sleeve back down, he texted back: “Nothing is up with me, princess.”

* * *

* * *

 


	21. Chapter 21

 

The students were back at Kadic Academy after their holiday break. Yet, despite the fact that they had just returned from break, they were eagerly awaiting the next and final one that would occur over Christmas.

The air was even colder than before, leaving the students heavily bundled in scarves and heavy coats.

Aelita shuffled up to where Jeremie and Odd seemed to be bickering about something. Ulrich stood between them texting on his phone, paying them no mind at all.

Aelita sighed and shook her head, but smiled once she was fully in front of them.

"Hello guys! What's up?"

"Jeremie is being a lame-o!" Odd said.

"I am not!" Jeremie protested, poking him in the chest.

"Nice greeting," Aelita said with narrowed eyes. "What are we fighting about?"

The two began talking at the same time, each trying to get his side across before the other one could.

“You know what? I don’t care that much…Nice addition by the way,” she said, touching her bottom lip with a small smile.

Odd put his own hand up to his mouth in confusion before realizing what she meant. A couple days before coming back to Kadic he had gone to a friend’s tattoo and piercing shop to get snake bites.

“Oh, right. Thanks,” he said.

Aelita’s face lit up suddenly as she caught sight of two people. She lifted up her hand in a wave.

Ulrich turned around and said, “Wow. They’re here already?”

“Yep,” Aelita said.

“What? Who?” Odd asked, looking to Ulrich.

"Odd, these are my parents," Aelita said when two adults stepped up behind him.

Odd’s eyes widened and he turned to look at the two adults who, in his mind, were looming over him. It did not matter that the pink-haired woman who highly resembled Aelita was wearing a friendly grin on her face. The neutral expression the grey-haired man held appeared more as a frown than anything. Odd felt his stomach drop.

Oh shit. Parents.

"Oh!" Odd said. “I mean, uh…hi.”

Aelita said, "This is Odd. And you’ve already met Ulrich and Jeremie."

"Yes, of course. Hello, Ulrich...Jeremie," Mr. Hopper said. "And it's very nice to meet you, Odd."

"Aelita has told us so much about you,” Mrs. Hopper said brightly.

Aelita blushed, but decided to not say anything on the matter.

“Come on, I’ll show you my dorm room!” Aelita said before hurrying them away from her friends.

Once they were out of earshot, Odd whipped around on the two remaining.

“ _What_ are they doing here?"

"It's parents week," Ulrich said, shrugging like it was an obvious answer.

"What?” Odd yelped. “What the hell is a parent week?"

"It’s a week when parents come to visit," Jeremie answered. "Pretty obvious by the name. Mine are coming tomorrow."

"Mine too," Ulrich said.

Odd tipped his head but said nothing else on the matter.

"Hey guys!" Yumi greeted as she walked up to them.

“Hey, Yumi. How was your break?” Ulrich asked.

“It was good. Had to deal with my grandmother’s nagging though,” she responded, rolling her eyes. It was then that she noticed the far-off and slightly sour expression on Odd’s face."What up with you?”

“Nothing,” he answered shortly before walking away toward the dorms.

Yumi held out her hands in a questioning manner and looked at the other two and Ulrich shrugged.

“Bye!” Jeremie called in a sassy manner at Odd’s retreating form.

* * *

 

Odd looked in the closet at his wardrobe and put a finger to his chin. He had absolutely nothing decent to wear. Aelita’s parents were going to think he was an absolute misfit freak…but since when did he care?

Ulrich entering the room did not pull Odd away from staring his clothes.

Ulrich closed the door and stared at him for a moment with confusion. Upon walking next to him, Odd still had not given him even a glance. Ulrich turned and stared at the clothes as well for a few awkward seconds before finally speaking.

"I don't see anything, but I figured that I should inform you that tomorrow we're going out to dinner with Aelita, Yumi, Jeremie and all of their parents.”

Odd whipped around, " _We_?"

"Woah there!" Ulrich said, holding up his hands. "Calm down buddy!"

“Why me?”

"Because we said so,” he responded simply.

"No, no," Odd said as he grabbed his hair in fret. "I can’t do this! I don't know how to act, what to do, what to say..."

Ulrich crossed his arms and smirked.

“So you’re wanting to impress Aelita’s parents, eh?”

“No shit!” Odd shouted, not even caring what Ulrich was hinting at.

“Dude, relax! You’re freaking out over nothing. Aelita’s parents are super nice. You should be more worried about meeting _my_ dad to be honest.”

Odd did not respond but instead began pacing around the room. Ulrich followed him with his eyes for a few seconds before speaking again.

“Look, the only advice I can really give you is simple…and that’s to just be yourself-" Ulrich paused, realizing what had just come out of his mouth. “You're right, we do have a problem..."

"I know right! That’s the worst advice ever!" Odd exclaimed, throwing out his arms before falling back onto his bed. He then covered his face in his pillow and said in a muffled voice, "I'm doomed."

"Alright, let's not panic here," Ulrich said. "We just have to find something decent for you to wear and how to act…better than you normally do.”

"You think it'll be that easy?" Odd asked, lowering the pillow from his face and looking at his friend.

"Sure," Ulrich shrugged before motioning for him to sit up. “Come on, sit up."

Odd did just that, holding the pillow on his lap and looking at Ulrich with child-like eagerness.

"Okay, pretend I'm Aelita's dad," Ulrich said and Odd nodded.

Ulrich cleared his throat and spoke in a deep voice, “So son, are you employed?"

“Son?” Odd questioned, grinning in amusement.

“Just go with it.”

“Alright…yes.”

Ulrich narrowed his eyes. “No you’re not.”

“I know but that sounds so much better.”

“No, don’t do that. Don’t lie. Just say you don’t have a job.”

“But then I’ll sound lazy,” Odd argued.

“Okay, fine!” Ulrich said in exasperation. “Say you’re looking for a job then. That’s better than flat out lying…anyway let’s continue... what’s your favorite school subject?”

“I don’t have one. School is stupid.”

Ulrich stared at him for a moment before pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Just say Gym or something…”

“Fine. Gym. My favorite subject is Gym.”

"Oh, you like athletics? Do tell me more."

"I mainly just like bugging Jimbo because it's hilarious," Odd said with a grin.

"Unnecessary information.”

Odd shrugged, “Just being honest.”

“Oh _now_ you’re being honest?” Ulrich cried out in aggravation before putting his face in his hand.

This was going to be harder than he thought. In all honesty, however, Ulrich was not worried about Aelita’s parents at all. It was his own father he was worried about. As he watched Odd innocently pick lint off his pillow he desperately hoped that his father would not eat him alive.

* * *

* * *

 


	22. Chapter 22

 

Aelita waited outside the restaurant with her parents. The classical music played softly through the speakers amidst the sound of cars and people passing by.

She was grateful that her parents had brought some of her nicer clothes from home considering the restaurant was quite upscale. She was clad in a tan pencil skirt, magenta blouse, and flats.

Aelita shivered and burrowed further into her heavy winter coat. She was about to complain about the cold until she caught sight of the Ishiyama family walking toward them down the sidewalk.

"Hello there!" Mrs. Ishiyama greeted Mr. and Mrs. Hopper. "How have you been?"

All of their parents had only met a few times, yet all got along well. The only exception was Ulrich's father, who was definitely not the friendliest of the bunch.

Five minutes passed before Jeremie and his father arrived, followed almost immediately by Ulrich and his parents. Hiroki gazed in awe at the shiny black Mercedes that the Stern's pulled up in. Upon getting out of the car, Yumi noticed that Ulrich looked a tad grumpy, which indicated he most likely got into some kind of argument with his father on the ride over.

"Hello," Mrs. Stern greeted with a smile, obviously trying to hide the fact that father and son were in a sour mood.

"Oh, Ulrich! You look so spiffed up and nice!" Mrs. Ishiyama complimented, making Yumi and Aelita giggle.

Ulrich fought off the uncomfortable blush, not particularly enjoying being put on display in such a way. He was wearing tan dress pants and a dark green button up shirt. His shoes were the white athletic shoes he typically wore, which threw off the stylish ensemble quite a bit.

"Thanks Mrs. Ishiyama."

Ulrich then looked at Yumi in her black pants, black top, and checkered scarf. He immediately recognized it as the scarf he had given her as a gift the Christmas before.

"Nice scarf," he said with a smile.

"Thanks. If only I could remember where it came from..." Yumi joked in mock thought.

Ulrich responded by gently punching her in the arm.

"I bet this year he will get her a diamond ring and propose," Hiroki muttered to Aelita and Jeremie and they let out a snort.

"We are waiting on one more, correct?" Mr. Stern asked.

"Uh, yeah, he's-" Jeremie started but caught sight of their friend walking toward them from across the street.

Odd stepped onto the sidewalk in a pair of black and white checkered shoes and black jeans. To match was a black and white studded belt and a black button up shirt.

"Could be worse," Ulrich mumbled while Yumi shrugged.

"Odd Della Robbia," Mrs. Hopper stated in a friendly manner as Mr. Stern looked the boy up and down with automatic disgust.

"Good evening Mrs. Hopper, Mr. Hopper," Odd said with a grin and Jeremie cocked his eyebrow as Aelita tried to suppress her giggles.

"Good evening to you too, son," Franz said as he held out his hand for a shake.

"We've heard so much about you from Yumi," Mrs. Ishiyama said.

"Only good things I hope," he grinned a bit uncertainly.

"Odd Della Robbia? That's your name, correct?" Mrs. Stern asked, holding out her hand for a shake as well. "Ulrich has also told me a lot about you."

It was not until Odd glanced up at Mr. Stern's hard stare that his cool and easy deportment faltered. He watched as though the world had become slow motion as the man's hand came out toward him. Odd took it without hesitation and wondered if the man always shook hands with that firm of a grip. Ulrich looked nervously between Odd and his father.

There were no words between them. Instead his dad just turned to the other adults and said, "Well, shall we?"

As they all made their way into the restaraunt, Ulrich put a hand on Odd's shoulder and said, "Doing great."

Odd sat in between Ulrich and Aelita at the table. Ulrich's mother and father were across from them. They were all conversing except for Odd, who merely sat listening to the conversations around him. He had his elbows resting on the table and was flicking his tongue ring around his mouth in nervous habit.

He only stopped clacking the metal against his teeth when he felt Ulrich elbow him.

"What?"

Ulrich gestured over to the part of the table where Aelita's parents were sitting and Odd looked over to see Mrs. Hopper looking at him expectantly.

"I'm sorry what?" Odd asked dumbly.

"I asked if your parents were planning on joining us for our dinner," she asked.

Odd seemed caught off guard. Aelita sent her mother wide, warning eyes and cleared her throat a bit.

"Oh..." Odd said, "Um..."

Everyone was looking expectantly at him and he nervously fiddled with his napkin in front of him. "No, they won't be joining us tonight."

"Well why not?" Mrs. Hopper asked innocently.

Aelita grunted, "Mom!"

"What?" she asked.

"Maybe we should drop the subject," Mr. Hopper said out of the corner of his mouth.

"Why? Why can't I ask a simple question? Why do you two have to be on my case about it?" she asked with aggravation, clearly not catching on.

Odd listened to them bicker as he put his chin in his hand. Mr. Ishiyama broke through the awkwardness.

"So, you've just started at Kadic this year, then?" he asked.

Odd nodded and was grateful when the server decided to come by at that moment to take their drink orders.

"About time," Mr. Stern grumbled.

Mrs. Stern looked uncomfortable, hoping that the server had not heard. Ulrich shot him a glare, which he thankfully did not catch. Odd could only assume that if he did, things could turn pretty ugly.

Most of the adults seemed to be getting wine. The whole table then proceeded to order lobster and other seafood to add to the medley to share between everyone.

From the time the steaming food arrived to when everyone was finished, Odd had been doing a remarkably good job conversing with all the parents, minus Mr. Stern at least.

"Odd's a really good basketball player," Aelita said as she grinned at him.

Odd gave a small smile and looked at the table.

Mrs. Ishiyama asked, "Are you now?"

"I don't know," he shrugged.

"He is," Yumi said, "He's just being rather shy about it."

The table laughed at this.

The friends also found it humorous that their usually boisterous friend was behaving in such a collected and rather bashful manner.

"Well if you're a basketball player, shouldn't you keep your strength up and eating more?" Mr. Belpois asked in a joking manner. "You haven't eaten much tonight."

Odd glanced down at his plate, which had held barely anything all night.

"I don't know," he responded again with another shrug.

"So, do you do anything outside of school?" Mr. Hopper asked. "Any hobbies or a job or anything?"

"No job right now. I thought about getting a job at a diner close to Kadic but just never did," he answered.

"A diner," Mr. Stern more stated than asked. "Why a diner?"

Odd was caught of guard since this was the first time that the man had spoken to him all night.

"Oh, um, just because I guess."

"Don't you strive for anything a little better than that?" he asked.

"I-I don't know," Odd answered as he shrugged.

"Oh? You don't seem to know a lot."

Ulrich put his hand to his mouth and rubbed his upper lip in nervousness.

Mr. Stern raised his eyebrows expectantly, almost as if daring Odd to retort.

In nervousness and slight aggravation, Odd bit down on the elongated tongue ring, the bell shining between his teeth. Mr. Stern's hard stare morphed into a plain glare at the sight.

"Dessert!" the server called out suddenly, making everyone ease up after the tension.

Aelita put a hand on Odd's knee in comfort and then went to her dessert. It looked to be pie with fancy garnishes on top and everyone was seeming to enjoy it.

"You aren't eating dessert either?" Mrs. Hopper asked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Odd said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Hey, good buddy, can you pass me the rolls?" Ulrich asked and Odd obliged.

Much to his misfortune, however, the basket ran into Mrs. Stern's wine glass and started tipping over slowly enough for him to process what was happening. Odd leaped up and grabbed it so only a single red drop got on the white table cloth.

"Sorry about that," he said, feeling as though daggers were shooting from Mr. Stern's stare straight through his body.

"You're not allowed to drink if you're underage," the voice of the server behind his shoulder startled him so bad that he jerked his hand, spilling the wine on Mr. Stern's pants.

The man gave a disgruntled shout as he lifted his arms up away from the mess.

"Shit muffins! I'm sorry!" Odd apologized frantically.

Hiroki giggled, "Shit muffins..."

"Hiroki! Don't repeat that!" Mrs. Ishiyama scolded.

"Is that the language you tend to use?" Mr. Stern scolded as he began wiping the wine off of his clothing.

"Um...it-it slipped," Odd said as he began to weakly clean up the wine on the table cloth.

At that moment, a bus boy rushed past and bumped into him from behind, causing Odd to fall forward and make the candle on the table tip over and land in Mister Stern's lap. What happened next made the whole table jump up in a panic.

"My pants are on fire!" Mr. Stern shouted as he jumped up from his seat.

Mrs. Stern squealed as she attempted to put it out with her glass of water. The entire restaurant had stopped and were staring at the spectacle.

Odd hurriedly grabbed a glass of what appeared to be water from the table behind him, but when he splashed it onto Mr. Stern, the flames only became angrier.

"What the hell?!" Odd exclaimed, he then caught a whiff of what had been in the glass and turned to the table behind him. "Plain tequila? Really?"

The strangers only responded by staring at him with shocked expressions.

Their server rushed up to them with a water pitcher and emptied all of its contents onto Mr. Stern's flaming clothes. The fire died in a cloud of smoke.

The restaurant fell into unpleasant silence, the only sound that could be heard was the classical music that had not halted despite the chaos. The only remnants of the fire being the smell of burned cloth.

Mr. Stern's pants were completely ruined. The fire had burned a hole straight through to his white boxers.

Mr. Stern turned slowly toward Odd with such intensity that it made his grip on the empty tequila glass slip. Odd winced as the glass shattered on the floor, making the quietness of the place even more uncomfortable.

Odd slowly started backing away. "I-I'll just go..."

"Wonderful idea," Mr. Stern growled out through tightly gritted teeth.

Odd took that as his cue to speed-walk out. The entire restaraunt watched until they heard the door shut.

Ulrich rubbed the back of his neck and Yumi sighed. Jeremie rubbed his top lip in discomfort.

Aelita started walking toward the exit to follow, but Ulrich stopped her.

"I'll go."

Ulrich stepped onto the sidewalk into the bitterly cold air. When he did not catch sight of his friend, he wondered if he had decided to just dart back to the school. When he stepped out further and turned his head, however, he saw Odd leaning against the brick wall of the restaurant with his forehead against the bricks.

Despite the complete disaster that had just happened, Ulrich could not help but find the way Odd looked humorous.

"So...there were a few mistakes...but other than that I think it went pretty well," Ulrich said with a grin.

Odd had his eyes closed, but pointed a warning finger at him, "Don't."

Ulrich sighed and walked closer, picking a rock up from the ground as he did so.

"Look, my dad is a serious person in general," he said as he tossed the rock from hand to hand.

"That went terribly."

"Could've been worse."

"I spilled wine on your dad and then proceeded to catch him on fire," Odd muttered into the wall.

Ulrich stopped tossing around the rock as a smile formed on his face, knowing that his father deserved it.

"Yeah..."

Odd heard the smile in Ulrich's voice and opened an eye to look at him. He got up off the wall.

"I was worried about impressing Aelita's parents more than yours," Odd managed to grin, opening his hands for a toss.

"They seemed to like you," Ulrich said as he tossed him the baseball-sized rock.

"One can always hope," Odd shrugged as he began to toss the rock back.

"Excuse me!" someone rushed past Odd, bumping into his shoulder as he did so.

The rock soared out of his hand and onto the black Mercedes behind him, denting the hood and causing the alarm to erupt into a blaring tone.

Inside the restaurant, the rest of the group was about to make their way outside when the sound of a car alarm and a loud, angry voice broke through.

"FUCK ME!"

Hiroki giggled and Mr. Ishiyama gave him a hard stare as Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremie put their hands to her foreheads and groaned.

Mr. Stern rushed past the others and out of the restaurant. No one even had the chance to see what had happened before they heard him cry, "MY CAR!"

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	23. Chapter 23

"Go! Go!" Aelita shouted as she stood up from her spot in the bleachers between Yumi and Jeremie. The whole crowd was going crazy cheering as the clock ticked down from ten seconds to nine…to eight…

The shoes of the basketball players were squeaking against the floor wildly as each player tried their best to support their team.

Lance dribbled the ball a few more steps before tossing it over to Odd, who caught it with ease and dribbled the rest of the way to the end of the court.

"Go Della Robbia! Go! Go!" Jim shouted. The players on the sidelines were standing up and cheering as well.

"You got this!" Ulrich shouted with his hands cupped around his mouth.

Odd jumped up and slam dunked the ball into the basket right when the time buzzed out. It was rather entertaining watching someone who really wasn't the tallest boy on the court jump so high.

Jim leaped up higher than anyone thought possible of the large man and began dancing around. One of the players fell victim to the large man's joy and was grabbed up and hugged.

Aelita was grinning as she ran down the bleachers and onto the court. Odd broke away from the teammates that were patting him on the back and practically jumping all over him in excitement.

"That was amazing!" Aelita said as she hugged him.

"I'm all sweaty Aelita," Odd said, out of breath.

"I don't care," Aelita laughed as she handed him his water bottle.

Sissi glared at the two with disgust and annoyance from her spot in the stands. She walked off the bleachers, Herb and Nicholas following like loyal dogs.

"You want to go to the dance with me?" Odd asked quickly.

Sissi stopped in her tracks, causing Herb and Nicholas to almost run into her back. They collided with each other instead, making noises of protest.

"Sissi, what-" Herb started but she harshly shushed him.

Aelita paused, completely caught by surprise.

"What? I thought you weren't the dancing type?"

"I'm not…but I'm the 'I'll only go if you're there with me type.'"

Aelita grinned widely. "Yes! Of course."

Sissi couldn't help the mischievous smirk that came to her face. She watched for a few more seconds as Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie came down from the bleachers as well. They were all smiling and seemed genuinely happy. No fighting. No awkwardness. A far cry from how Odd and Jeremie were multiple weeks prior.

"That will soon change, dorks," Sissi said before she whipped her hair over her shoulder and walked out of the gymnasium doors.

Herb and Nicholas looked at each other, both wearing confused expressions, before they shrugged and followed their "leader" out of the gym.

...

Jeremie was walking back toward the area of the dorm rooms. He had been studying in the library so intently that he had lost track of time. Now he was in one of the outside corridors, laptop under one arm and books under another. He was about to round the corner when someone popped up and scared him almost out of his wits.

The books went toppling to the ground but luckily he kept hold of his laptop.

"Sissi!" Jeremie cried with annoyance. "Mind watching where you're going?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I startle you, dweeb?" she asked with mock innocence.

"You're lucky I didn't drop my laptop," Jeremie said as he bent down to pick up his fallen books. Just as he went to grab the last one, her foot came down on the cover.

He looked up to see Sissi staring down at him, her face holding a wickedly fiendish expression that he had seen many times.

"There's something I need to tell you."

"I can't say I'm all that interested," Jeremie said as he pulled the book out from underneath her foot and placed it under his arm with the rest. He then stood back up and swiftly walked around her.

"Would you be interested if I said it had to do with Aelita and Odd?"

This made him stop in his tracks. He turned around to look at Sissi who was now smirking and leaning against the brick wall. Jeremie walked a little closer to her.

"What about Aelita and Odd?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, just that he asked her to the dance," Sissi said as she examined her fingernails. She then looked up at him. "And she said yes."

There was silence as Jeremie seemed to be processing what he had just heard. He was not sure how to respond to the new information. In actuality, he knew that it was bound to happen. If he wasn't going to ask her, Odd surely would. If Jeremie had really, truly wanted to go to the dance with Aelita, surely he would have made sure he asked her first?

"You know...the dance that happens after Christmas break?" Sissi continued, breaking the silence as well as Jeremie's thoughts.

"I know what dance it is," he snapped. "I already knew about that, Sissi."

It wasn't necessarily a lie after all.

She got up off the wall and stared at him with surprise. He felt happiness as he realized he foiled her plan to start drama. He was not going to let anything break up the peace they had in their friend group.

He turned his back to her and began walking away as he said, "Nice try, Sissi."

...

The following day, Jeremie felt strangely indifferent as he watched Odd and Aelita's interactions at the lunch table. Jeremie watched the way Aelita touched Odd's shoulder and laid her head on his arm as she laughed at something he said. When she lifted her head back up, he shoved her playfully. Aelita returned this shove and Odd grinned at her as he poked at the food on his tray.

It was a strange feeling, not being angry at the interaction. What did this mean?

Odd stood up with his tray and Yumi noticed that practically the whole meal was still on there. She nudged Ulrich, he grunted and looked at her and then in the direction that she was looking.

"What?" Ulrich asked dumbly.

"He doesn't eat!" Yumi said.

"What do you want me to do?" Ulrich shrugged. "If he's not hungry then he's not hungry."

"It's just weird," Yumi said as she glanced back at her friend and followed him as he walked outside to talk with Mr. Tiny.

"Well he is weird so..." Jeremie said, making Aelita laugh.

Yumi rolled her eyes but continued with her own lunch. Maybe she was just being paranoid.

Ulrich looked out the window to where Odd had been standing to see that he and Mr. Tiny were already gone. Worry was starting to set in as he realized that Yumi was right. Following that was frustration at the fact that he didn't notice sooner. His mind flashed back to the memory of the Valium he had found among Odd's possessions what felt like forever ago.

Could he have acquired more since then? And if so, should he tell the others?

…

Later that day, after all of their classes were dismissed, they all met up in Ulrich and Odd's room to hang out before dinner time.

"So, has everyone figured out their plans for the holidays?" Yumi asked.

"We're going to my aunt's house," Aelita answered.

"Grandparents'," Ulrich responded.

"Staying home," followed Jeremie.

"Sisters'."

Everyone stared at Odd after this response. He was simply texting on his phone and did not realize the halt in conversation until he sensed everyone's stares.

"What?" he asked.

"You get to go to your sister's for the holidays?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah…amazingly enough," he answered with a small smile.

"That's great! Are we going to be able to meet her?" Aelita asked excitedly.

"Yeah, that'd be great if we were able to," Yumi agreed. "You've met our families. It's only fair we meet yours."

Ulrich was not contributing to the conversation. Instead he was staring at Odd. He took note of how his friend had dark circles underneath his eyes. His hair seemed a bit more unkempt and he definitely looked skinnier than he had a few weeks prior.

"Ulrich?" Odd asked.

Ulrich blinked out of his thoughts.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Odd laughed. "You're sort of creeping me out."

Ulrich shook his head and said, "Um, n-no reason. I just sort of phased out."

...

It was eight o'clock at night and Odd sat at the desk tapping his pencil on the text book that lay open in front of him; eyebrows furrowed as he tried to focus on his homework. It was not abnormal for Odd to be unable to focus on school work, but lately he had really been struggling.

"Hey," Ulrich said as he entered the room. "You never came down for dinner so I brought you something."

"Thanks Ulrich," he mumbled, continuing to tap his pencil.

"Something wrong?" Ulrich asked.

"No, just concentrating," he answered dismissively.

"Oh." Ulrich went over to where his pajamas sat on his bed. He slipped off his shirt and put on a white tank top. "Well, maybe you should eat. You hardly ate anything for lunch and you didn't eat any breakfast."

"Not hungry," Odd responded.

"Come on, you have to be."

"Well I'm not."

Ulrich sighed as he pulled his hamper out from under his bed and tossed in the clothes he had worn that day. He kicked it back underneath the bed as he walked over to stand next to Odd.

Odd's eyes opened when he felt Ulrich's hand on his shoulder.

"Something's up with you and I want to know what it is," he said gently yet seriously.

"What are you talking about?" Odd asked.

"You hardly eat at all and I've noticed you looking really tired lately."

"I've been studying and playing basketball and stuff. It's nothing."

"Odd…"

"Seriously Ulrich, don't worry about it," Odd said, looking up at his friend and giving him what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Ulrich removed his hand as Odd stood up and walked over to collapse on his bed. "I don't feel like working on homework anymore," he mumbled into the mattress.

Ulrich decided to drop his interrogation to continue another time. He grabbed his toothbrush and went over to the door, "Well if you need any help with it you know who to ask."

"Not you?" Odd smirked as he looked up at his friend.

Ulrich rolled his eyes, "I was going for Jeremie actually."

"You know I'm kidding with you."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever!" Ulrich said in mock anger as he closed the door.

Odd's smile disappeared from his face as his friend left the room. He did not want Ulrich or any of the others to worry about him.

He rolled over onto his back and put his arm over his eyes.

…


End file.
